Agenda item

Kelvin Packer (Group Manager - Highways & Traffic) and Stefan Chiffers (Senior Engineer - Traffic Management) will give a presentation.

Kelvin Packer gave a presentation. A copy of his PowerPoint slides is attached as Appendix 4.

New approach to highways schemes

Kelvin said this was a piece of work developed by Stefan Chiffers (Senior Engineer - Traffic Management). Highways had decided to move away from the traditional approach, which was to tackle individual problems at individual locations without considering the bigger picture. A whole route corridor approach had replaced the previous single-location focus, in the hope that individual schemes could contribute to the improvement of the whole route.

Accidents on the A37

Concerns had been raised by ward and parish councillors and residents along the A37 corridor following a series of fatal accidents. A great deal of help and support had been received from specialist officers in the Police. The route had a whole range of challenges, including varying speed limits and different types of junctions.

Analysis of accident data

Evidence was sought to inform decisions making.

There had been 90 accidents over the 5 years, an average of 18 per year. Of these 18% were KSI (= killed and serious injury) accidents. Analysis of the data had not revealed an obvious trend. The Police send data to Highways on all road traffic collisions. From this data bar charts were produced and the data was plotted on a map to see whether there were clusters of accidents at particular locations, or whether they were spread over a wider area. As a result 12 cluster sites on the A37 were identified, which are listed on slide 8. Highways can provide further information about these locations if parishes wish to request it.

Cost data from the NHS are used to calculate the cost to society of accidents. This enables work at specific locations to be prioritised on the basis of the cost to society of accidents at those locations. It had been calculated that spending of £138,750 on A37 improvement works could result in a saving of £614,795 in cost to society.

Implementation

An effort was being made minimise inconvenience, by carrying out different types of work at the same time.

Improvement measures that will be implemented on the A37 are detailed on slides 11 and 12. They include:

·  reductions in speed limits

·  improvements to signage

·  improvements to the road surface and road markings

·  pruning of vegetation

·  restoration of 2 safety cameras to working order

Work will commence in the current financial year. The first pilot scheme will be at Pensford. There will be consultation on the details of specific works. This new approach to highways improvements will be rolled out across other routes. Highways will develop a number of ‘shelf ready’ schemes to take advantage of funding that only becomes available at short notice and for a limited period.

Questions from the meeting

Councillor Brian Simmons asked whether Highways took into consideration the data produced by the Association of British Insurers. Kelvin replied that ABI data was not used, nor were statements from residents about the frequency of accidents. It was important to ensure the consistency and comparability of the data used. However, anecdotal evidence about accidents from individuals and parishes was taken into consideration.

Ashton Broad (Chairman, Whitchurch PC) suggested that the most significant long-term issue was the sheer volume of traffic. There were huge queues this morning on the A37, which had had become increasingly used as a general trunk route over the past five years. Councillor Tony Clarke replied that this highlighted the need to work with the neighbouring councils on major infrastructure issues. Probably the best thing that could be done to relieve pressure on Whitchurch was to open junction 18a on the M4, which would link up with Emersons Green and the South Bristol Link Road, when that was completed. In addition over the next 20 years there would be additional opportunities to solve problems on the A37, because Dorset wanted to develop Weymouth as a major port. He was already in discussion with Bristol City Council about how these things could be taken forward.

Des Wighton (Monkton Combe PC) noted that for some routes, like the A36, the main responsibility with Highways England. Councillor Clarke replied that he spoke to Highways England fairly frequently. It was possible that the A36/46 would be detrunked and the A350 trunked. He was speaking to Highways England, Wiltshire and Dorset about this.

A parish representative said that a major issue was inconsiderate driving. Kelvin responded that it was not within his power to control the behaviour of individual drivers, but he was working with the Police on enforcement. Now that the emphasis was on improving the whole route rather than just individual locations, it was to be hoped that there would be a change in driver behaviour along the whole route.