Limits are pointless
Wednesday 31st October 2007, 11:40AM GMT.
Speed restrictions of 40mph have recently been placed on the road from the Dawley Roundabout to the Old Park Road roundabout. Why?
Yes, the traffic did go down there at high speed, and there have been accidents, but all the work done has had no effect as drivers’ habits have not changed – they just ignore the limits.
Mossey Green Way has been 40mph for more than a year now. I travel down it every day and have been overtaken.
The same happens on the newly-restricted stretch of road from the Beverley Roundabout down to the junction with the A442. Is anyone enforcing it? If not, why bother to do the work?
Name and address supplied
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I Totally agree with the letter, what a shock within the space of a week or so most of my route to work has changed into a 40mph drag. Why on earth have they done this? Surely there are roads in telford which need this treatment as a priority! Not to mention the hassle of them closing the roads to put Stupid reservations in and paint the road? Were any residents consulted? I live in malinslee and I wasnt!
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These roads have been 60mph since their construction over 25 years ago, so what has happened to justify reducing them all to 40 mph now…nothing that makes any sense. the highways dept seem to want to have a blanket speed limit of 40 mph throughout…what next, the M54 at 40 mph?
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What else can we say about the letter and comments? I totally agree, and after travelling up the Eastern Primary this morning this road needs to be policed on a regular basis as there are so many drivers tailgating, undertaking, cutting people up and speeding I can only say I’m glad I don’t have to travel this road every day! But as always – where are the police when we need them??
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Telford & Wrekin Council are similar to many others in this country, in as much as the highways dept see the reduction of speed limits as the panacea for all road deaths. They are blinded by the “speed kills” dogma, and – indeed led – by pressure groups and other poorly informed individuals who also believe that driving to an arbitrary number on a sign by the road equals good driving.
I have proof, provided by T & W Council themselves, that their meddling with speed limits is midguided.
1. Trench Lock to Clock Tower. Speed limit reduced to 50. Accidents attributed to exceeding the previous posted limit of 60 since 2001? None.
2. A442 Eastern Primary. Speed limit reduced to 60. Accidents attributed to exceeding the previous posted limit of 70? No-one at the council seems to know. One says 22%, another states that speed is not a factor that is recorded at RTA’s on the 442.
3. Wombridge Way. Speed limit reduced to 40 after a motorcyclist was killed by a truck driver. Cause of death? Truck driver taking a wrong exit off an island, mistaking the instructions given out by his sat nav.
Councils must start taking on board the fact that mindlessly reducing speed limits is a lazy and misguided method of reducing road deaths. It’s borne out by Department for Transport stats for 2006 road accidents.
In 2006, 5% of road fatalities were caused by “exceeding the speed limit”.
5%
In view of such facts, what are Telford & Wrekin Council going to do about the other 95% of accidents that aren’t caused by speeding?
I dread to think.
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Spindrift – thats very interesting – we are usually led to believe that the speed reductions are to “save lives” hmm it appears not! The roads from dawley to wombridge which have been lowered to a 40mph limit have footpaths, bridges or underpasses and also cycle tracks so it is a mystery why the speed needs to be reduced.
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havinamoan:
I use the 442 EP every morning at rush hour, and tailgating is unavoidable since the mindless “re-engineering” that was carried out last year.
The problem is, you see, drivers being forced into one lane rather than safely negotiating traffic amongst two lanes. Thus creating bunching and congestion. The idiocy of it is mind boggling. How anyone can think that reducing the capacity of large stretches of the busiest road through Telford can ease congestion and reduce accidents beggars belief.
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I said exactly that the first time I used the EP during rush hour after it was first “improved”…big joke….I was scared by the way everyone was bunched together with nowhere to go…it’s one big pile up waiting to happen…mark my words
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Spindrift
Sorry but tailgaiting is avoidable – it is not about being forced into one lane, it’s about how people drive and their concern for others. I agree with some of what you say but drivers have responsibility towards other road users. It is quite easy to avoid tailgaiting if people drive with others in mind! Congestion will only get worse and we have to drive accordingly
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having a moan
What you seem to have missed is the fact that road was built in the mid seventies and was a very successful way of traveling south from one end of telford to the other until it’s major “revamp” in 2006, the problems you describe have only become worse since then. congestion WILL get worse if the roads are re-designed badly and restrict smooth traffic flow which is what seems to be happening more and more in Telford
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@ havinamoan
Yes. It is about being forced into one lane.
Traffic joining the EP at the Wombridge interchange at – say – 8.10 a.m. is greeted with the bizarre scene of a clear lane 1 but a totally congested lane 2 as the vast majority of drivers do not wish to exit the 442 at the next exit (Greyhound). As such, and in accordance with the lane markings, everyone (who in the past had the usage of two lanes) now must attempt to find a gap in lane 2.
Traffic along the EP is increasing, and highways “engineers” at council towers have seen it fit to install a 2-mile “pinch point”. Imagine a hose pipe; water will flow freely if the pipe is of an optimum diameter. Pinch the pipe twixt thumb and index finger however, and the water flow decreases at one end, and water pressure backs up at the other.
Physics, you see *wink*
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they are doing the same at all the traffic islands now, moving the kerbs in to reduce the input from 3 lanes to two….more congestion producing tactics and at what cost??/I can only think that it is a way of introducing a congestion charge to Telford after first introducing CONGESTION
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spindrift
Love the explanation, but even those teaching physics can ease of their accelerators and leave a gap between them and the car in front ;)
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isn’t the several mile tailbacks at motorway road works caused by restricting the amount of lanes and slowing the traffic down so “having a moan” if there is only so much available space to travel in over a given time what happens then???? the more space taken in one lane then the further back the queue stretches, introduce more lanes and increase the flow and the queue diminishes…its simple physics really…just like damning a stream the water backs up, remove the damn and water flows…oh if only highways engineers understood the simple things in life….
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Tell that to the drivers on the M6 when one lane is closed off due to an accident, and 3 lanes are reduced to 2.
The huge tailbacks thus caused are due to a reduction in road capacity.
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excuse me but that is what I just said…..
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There is a big difference between the tailbacks on the M6, with the thousands and thousands of cars nose to tail, and doing 60mph on the EP at 7.45am – sorry but this is definately a case of agree to disagree
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Sorry Brian, your post wasn’t listed when I posted my message.
Great minds and all that though….
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Although i am all in favour of motorists slowing down with the intention of making the roads safer, the thing that worries me is will all these newly imposed speed restrictions on the roads that used to be faster surely just mean that the boy racers that did have the opportunity to get their “need to speed” off their chests somewhat will now speed elsewhere, including housing estates? We all know these idiots will never slow down, or learn….. but what will the price be now?
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The main stupidity of Telford and wrekins road planners is the fact that they don’t actually leave their offices, if they did they would find smaller, narrower roads that are little more than country lanes with sixty limits on them. take for instance the dual carriageway past stafford park…reduced to 50MPH…WHY???? when you can turn off it up the nedge, narrow country road, and do 60MPH…maybe no congestion charge opportunity up there??? I believe that their idea is to reduce telford to one big snarl up then guess what???? CONGESTION CHARGES
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