Traffic Calming for Weymouth Road Refused

Cheriton Councillor Dhan Gurung has been told that traffic calming measures in Weymouth Road in Cheriton will not be considered as not enough people have been injured in the road. Dhan was approached by local residents concerned about the speed of traffic in the road, especially as the nearby Stanley and Somerset Roads and Shaftesbury Avenue already have traffic calming in place.

Despite being turned down by Kent Highway Services at this time, Cllr Gurung has promised to continue to look for ways of ensuring traffic is slowed in the road. Dhan says:

"I don't understand how we can only have measures to slow traffic and prevent accidents AFTER there have been accidents. Local residents and Councillors want to reduce the chance of people getting hurt on this road, but Kent seem to be saying that until people do get hurt, they will not act: that's crazy!"

"We will continue to pursue this with local residents. If there are any traffic incidents on Weymouth Road in the future, it would be a real help to make sure that they are ALL reported to the local police and to me. Many incidents go unreported, and Kent therefore disregard them: we must make sure ALL accidents are reported to make sure they have all the facts."

The message to Dhan Gurung from Gary Peak, Senior Transportation Engineer of Kent Highway Services read:

"You enquired about the possibility of providing traffic calming measures in Weymouth Road following approaches to you from local residents.

"In recent years, funding for traffic calming schemes has been tightened up significantly and now only locations where there have been a significant number of speed related crashes in which people have been injured are likely to receive a high enough priority rating to be funded. Having looked at the crash history for this road I have found that there was only one injury crash in the most recently available three year period, and this was not speed related.

"On this basis, I would advise you that a funding bid for a traffic calming scheme would not be successful.

"The speed limit on Weymouth Road is 30mph and it has a system of street lighting, as have all of the approaching roads. The Department for Transport do not permit 30mph speed limit signs in street lit areas except at the very start of the limit or the approach to a safety camera and therefore I am unable to provide any speed limit warning signs."