Stirling Council have issued a draft for a road order to implement a 20mph limit within the streets of Bridge of Allan. They have not extended this onto Henderson Street as this will remain at 30mph. The streets listed are all adopted and the proposal is to erect signage together with road markings to be located at the junction points of each street.
Proposal to Introduce 20mph Limits within Bridge of Allan
Whilst this is welcomed news, the concern residents have is that lower speed restrictions will not alter people’s speed. If they are prepared to break 30mph they will with 20mph. In particular on roads such as Keir Street which is a long straight road that encourages speed. Traffic calming measures is the only way. Henderson Street is a problem for speeding and heavy traffic so speed restrictions and traffic calming is needed.
20mph Zones and Streets apply in Causewayhead residential streets but the majority of passenger and commercial vehicle drivers totally ignore the limits.
There is little police enforcement nor traffic calming measuresin the vicinity to prevent this.
Drivers don’t seem to understand the severe penalties that can be applied for breaking speed limits such as twice the speed limit ie.,40mph in a 20 mph street attracts 6 penalty points, several hundred pounds fine and disqualification for several months from driving.Causing death by dangerous driving could end up with 14 years in prison.
I would like to see parts of Fountain Road from the Fountain to Haws park included. Cars come off the roundabout at excessive speed, the bend in the road makes for poor visibility and the work down previously to try and slow the traffic hasn’t worked. I don’t understand why only parts of Fountain Road would be included when the main issue is the straight part of the road after the Fountain heading to Puller Avenue.
If it is impossible to get the traffic coming down Blairforkie Drive to stick to 30 MPH, I cannot see there being any chance of 20 MPH being adhered to. I have broached the subject of the speed of vehicles travelling along Blairforkie Drive at meetings before, and the reaction then was it was not seen as a problem. Sadly, there is a problem especially if there is something approaching 2 tonnes or more travelling down hill toward pedestrians and cyclist.
The question is why? Has there been serious accidents on these roads? What is the justification?
if it’s a safety issue good, but why are the 2 areas that the police use their speed camera’s on i.e. Henderson Street & Corton Road not included?
Excellent, have more patience people, calm down and value all road users safety over being in a rush. Can’t see why anyone would oppose this
How about restrictions on heavy goods vehicles travelling coming off the Dunblane by-pass on their way to destinations to the east of the village. Any way of making them use the eastern by-pass?
Henderson street from no 3 to no1 needs to be included in this waste of money scheme.
Money would be be better spent on cameras/flashing signs in area of railway station where speeds in excess of 50 mph are the norm.
Are the public to be given an indication of cost as it is our money?
Henderson Street continues to experience regular vehicles exceeding the speed limit. I’m disappointed the proposal doesn’t include the whole stretch or at least the residential stretch between the Westerton Arms and Grahams Dairy. A reduction of the speed limit could mean HGV’s re-direct away from the village too which would be advantageous.
Just to recap some previous comments, many drivers don’t adhere to existing speed limits and therefore a reduction in speed is unlikely to occur. I can also add the following. The restrictions would not be actively enforced and are not self regulating so the proposal is therefor extremely “academic”. There was a recognition in the Traffic Engineering profession a few years ago that the amount of “streetscape” clutter (signs, lines, etc.) is getting ridiculous. The proposal would introduce even more signs and road markings into sensitive streets. The community and Council aspire to become more sustainable however the proposal means the use of more natural resources and the use of environmentally unfriendly material (thermoplastic road markings). I estimate that well over 50% of existing lining is well worn/missing/illegible including the existing 20 mph roundels on Pullar Avenue (on an approach to the primary school) and therefore any future markings will become the same. To summarise, this is a largely academic, costly and unsustainable proposition.
The Fountain road limit needs to start at Hawes Park and go up to Henderson Street not just from the roundabout. The zebra crossing is where the fatal accident was last year, the fire station needs easy access out, the bend from the bowling club lane is lethal to get out of and there’s the busy Allanvale Road junction.
I agree fully with Sam’s comments. Why is this proposal being made. Is it on road safety grounds. If it is how many accidents have we had in B of A over the last five years resulting in injury as a result of speeding vehicles. We need evidence to back up the proposal. We have 30mph limits at present which are not enforced, will 20mph limits be any different. I challenge anyone to drive at 20mph through the town, you will find it is not an easy exercise to undertake. Also check your full consumption, the lower the gear the higher the full consumption and the more pollution. The problems on Henderson St could be addressed by other means. It is always been my view that with this type of proposal the view of the silent majority in the community should be taken into account. If it is here then I am confident that the view will be that the proposals are unworkable and a waste of precious resources and money .
I would like to see the road from the Fountain on Fountain Road towards Pullar Ave included in the 20 MPH zone. Cars and other vehicles are often reaching excess speeds there already. It’s an area where many children are around to access the park too. Heading from the Fountain towards Cornton Rd is a bad corner with poor visibility. I appreciate some traffic calming measures have already been introduced but it seems slightly ludicrous to suggest that drivers can begin to gain speed again directly after the park. Hopefully this can be reconsidered prior to sign off
Thanks to everyone who has commented on the proposals so far. We have shared this post with Stirling Council so they can review what is being suggested and we are collating feedback also.
Regards,
Michael
On behalf of Bridge of Allan Community Council
I view this proposal as totally unnecessary and a complete waste of money. It would mean cluttering up small residential roads with yet more signage and road markings. The 20mph limit around the primary school is sensible but this is not required elsewhere.
The vast majority of drivers using these roads do so at a reasonable speed having regard to the conditions, traffic, and pedestrians at the time. The very small number of drivers who do not will behave no better if there is a 20mph limit.
In current circumstances there are many more useful things for the Council to spend our money on.
We\’ve lived on Henderson Street for 16 years. We\’ve had two cars written off outside our house, and I\’ve lost count the the number of wing mirrors we\’ve lost – that\’s our household only. Dogs have been killed, a lady hospitalised, a bus mounted the kerb on Halloween bringing a tree down, with children nearby. An artic lorry mounted the kerb leaving an 80kg kerb stone in the middle of the road. I\’d rather not wait until someone gets killed to get something done about it. I would be happy with 30 mph if it was clear and enforced. We need clear signage along the stretch by the memorial park coming into the village. The digital signs that tell you your speed might be enough to reinforce this, and a blind summit warning.
Hi,
It should be noted that the proposal is for 20mph limits and not for 20mph zones.
Studies have shown that 20mph limits have limited impact.
“Actual change in speed in case study areas – Journey speed analysis shows that the median speed has fallen by 0.7mph in residential areas and 0.9mph in city centre areas.” Source: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/757302/20mph-technical-report.pdf
And Edinburgh’s experience is slightly better: “New 20mph speed limit in Edinburgh has only reduced speeds by 1.3mph”
Source: https://www.edinburghlive.co.uk/news/edinburgh-news/new-20mph-speed-limit-edinburgh-17048226
And the Police view:
Enforcement ‘would not be a priority’ for Police Scotland
Chief Superintendent Stewart Carle, Police Scotland’s head of road policing, has told the Scottish Government that enforcing the proposed 20mph limits would not be a priority for the force.
Reported in the Scotsman, Mr Carle told the Government’s rural economy and connectivity committee: “I would have concerns that the Bill seeks to impose 20mph as a blanket.
“20mph will not be a priority. The majority of casualties are on higher-speed roads. I must prioritise where there is the biggest impact.
“Suddenly switching a lot of resources from faster roads would not give the same gain.”
Source: https://roadsafetygb.org.uk/news/scotlands-default-20mph-limit-in-jeopardy/
Dunblane has recently been switched to being mostly 20mph limits, before making a decision on if Bridge of Allan should follow suit or not, why not request to postpone any decision until the results from traffic surveys in Dunblane indicate whether or not the 20mph limits are working or not?
Or push for 20mph zones not limits, which whilst more expensive and have other safety issues, are more effective in reducing speeds.
“Existing evidence on speed outcomes in 20mph zones
Existing research (Webster, D and Mackie, A, 1996; Webster, D and Layfield, R, 2003; Allott and Lomax, 2001) suggests that 20mph zones can achieve substantial reductions in average speed,
of around 9-10mph.”
Source: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/757302/20mph-technical-report.pdf
Councillor Alastair Majury
Not sure if this is still open.
However, I’m responding to Alastair.
What’s the current status / plan for Henderson Street?
It’s been a while since I stayed for more than a couple of days. And now that I have, I’ve become very much aware of the almost continual traffic noise. And, as most of the noise seems to be generated by vehicle tyres on the road surface, reducing vehicle speeds from 30 to 20 MPH would (in my opinion) substantially reduce the amount of noise pollution.
I think I’ll get my noise meter out and do some comparative studies into 30MPH vs 20MPH – If this hasn’t already been done
I share J Smith’s concerns about Henderson Street. With the volume of traffic and the number of incidents that have occurred over the years it is essential that there is clear signage and enforcement of the 30 mph limit.
I live in Keir Street and have witnessed an accident and many near misses at the roundabout at the junction of Keir Street and Henderson Street at the Memorial Park with cars exiting the village at excessive speed.
Furthermore cars coming down Keir Street from the roundabout frequently travel at excessive speed. There are invariably cars parked on both sides of the road and children crossing between the park and tennis courts. It’s an obviously hazardous situation and traffic calming measures should be implemented on Keir Street to control vehicle speeds.