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Mill Road chicane -more problems than it's solved.

  • Clairese
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10 years 1 month ago #1 by Clairese
Alec's suggestion from another post interests me. There is a notification that people coming out from Greenway are not taking suficient care at the junction was posted on the Parish council notices and as one of the people whoi use that junction regularly I find it unnerving to find drivers on my side of the road at the junction as they have come around the chicane much too fast. Rather than slowing drivers many speed up to get through before traffic may approach and end up on the wrong side of the road for some time. When you have turned out at that junction for over twenty years with no real need for more than a cursory glance to the left it is sometimes more difficult to always remind yourself than there is a need now.

I feel that the wide sleeping policemen across the entire road, as they do on entry into most towns in Holland) with a thirty mile limit perhaps part way up the hill might make things a little easier.

What does anyone else think?

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10 years 1 month ago #2 by Lyn
No we don't need any more sleeping policemen- just alert and sensible road users.

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10 years 1 month ago #3 by Liwl
I agree with Lyn - every driver should be alert to traffic from both directions at all junctions, a cursory glance is never enough. The same thing sometimes happens with drivers turning left out of Vineyard Way, who only look right then pull out. If you are driving towards Vineyard Way in the Offord direction and passing parked cars, then they are surprised to meet you head-on.

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10 years 1 month ago - 10 years 1 month ago #4 by Jaybee
If a chicane is the right answer to the problem - which I have reservations about - it was sited far too close to the junction of Greenway, and without consideration of the almost total lack of visibility to the left when exiting Greenway. So the exiting driver has very little time to see an oncoming car on the 'wrong' side of the road. This bad siting has arguably added a new and potentially very dangerous hazard to the area.

The danger is increased by impatient drivers coming up Mill Road who speed up in order to get past the chicane ahead of the oncoming traffic. I had such an alarming incident on Tuesday morning and had to brake very hard to avoid a collision with such a car.

The Area Traffic Manager has stated that: "After speed surveys showed that the scheme had reduced speeds from 32mph to 28mph." This does not seem at all impressive, given that some of the traffic is now made to stop. I would hazard a guess that the high end of the data shows that some cars are entering the village faster than before, as they speed up to beat the chicane. So I have yet to be convinced that this scheme has yielded an increase in overall road safety.
Last edit: 10 years 1 month ago by Jaybee. Reason: Clarification

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10 years 1 month ago #5 by alec
The PC discussed rthis at their last meeting and accepted that the situation was less than ideal. The design of the speed reducing measures was done by Highways who are supposed to know what they are doing.

One of the original problems was speeding down to the school and I think people feel the measures have imprtoved that.

The PC passed a resolution to request that the junction become a "Stop" for traffic exiting Greenway plus putting up a sign saying "Danger - look both ways" or something like that.

Senior Shouting Officer
" Oh freddled gruntbuggly,
Thy micturations are to me
As plurdled gabbleblotchits on a lurgid bee"

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10 years 1 month ago #6 by JohnC
When HDC first consulted about putting in the chicane and the 3 lots of cushions between the entrance to the village and The Barns, I asked them 2 questions:
1. How many accidents had been recorded in this area; and
2. What were the speeds recorded by the temporary cameras they had put up.

Answer 1: none.
Answer 2 - if I recall correctly, at the exit of the village it was just on 30 mph, and at the school it was 21 (not surprising since there is a sleeping policeman at the school crossing).

The cushions are not going to slow motorcyclists and barely slow cars as they are so narrow. The present calming measures are not doing the intended job (the justification for them was questionable anyway) but I don;t suppose there is the money to do anything about them now.

On a different topic - the southbound approach to the roundabout, the 50 limit is widely ignored. I can't see it is of use to put in average speed cameras to the north of the roundabout as the problem is in the last 100 yards before the roundabout with people approaching fast and braking at the last minute (if at all). I don't know if traffic engineers have found a solution to that one yet - if they have, they need to deploy it there.

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