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Traffic calming
Medway Council is committed to reducing the number of road
traffic crashes in Medway and one of the methods used to
control vehicle speeds is called traffic calming.
What is traffic calming?
Traffic calming involves a number of measures designed to reduce
traffic speeds and accidents, these include:
- chicanes are a sequence of artificial curves in a road
used to slow cars (visit www.streetfilms.org/chicane-animated-traffic-calming/ for
a short, animated explanatory video)
;
- road narrowing;
- mini-roundabouts;
- road closures;
- 20mph zones;
- traffic islands; and
- road humps / ramps.
Traffic calming restrictions
The council receives many hundreds of requests for traffic
calming each year, and all of them are carefully considered. Some
are rejected because experience shows the measures would not make
the road any safer. The rest are put into a programme with schemes
that will have the greatest benefit being given the greatest
priority. So, if you think that traffic calming is needed in your
road, town or village, please contact us.
On some roads the council is legally prevented from putting
in traffic calming measures. For example, road humps cannot be
installed on A or B class roads. In areas where traffic calming
measures can be used, we are still required to consult with
residents, businesses and the emergency services. It must be
remembered that although traffic calming can make some roads safer
it can also cause inconvenience and delays to road users, and
proposals must be approved by the emergency services and bus
companies which serve the area.
In general, traffic calming is not used to reduce high traffic
speeds; it is used to maintain slow speeds when they have been
achieved by some other means. It is the responsibility of the
police to enforce speed limits. We work with the police to make
sure appropriate speed limits for areas are in place. It may also
be possible to use the more conventional forms of traffic control,
such as lines, signs and traffic islands to reduce speeds.
All traffic calming measures are aimed at reducing road traffic
crashes on our roads. In areas where there is no record of road
traffic incidences, it is unlikely that the measures would be used.
In these areas, most traffic will be generated by residents, so we
try and influence driver behaviour through road safety messages,
rather than by introducing physical restrictions. We do, however,
ensure that traffic calming is introduced at the design stage for
all new developments.
For most proposals Medway Councillors will make the final
decision as to whether traffic calming can go ahead. In some cases,
special permission has to be obtained from the Secretary of State
at the Department for Transport before a scheme can be started.
Traffic calming costs
The cost of traffic calming depends on the size and type of the
scheme. Most of the measures are expensive, varying from £5,000 for
a simple traffic island to between £1,000 and £7,000 for a road
hump. On top of this cost, there will have to be changes to traffic
signs and often the street lighting as well. The total bill can be
very high; a typical scheme would cost £50,000. This is why the
proposals have to be put into a priority order to ensure money is
well spent.
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