Shropshire Star

Traffic 'speeding up' for new road hump with no bump outside primary school

A councillor has called for a meeting with Shropshire Council after a traffic calming hump was installed that she says seems to speed up the traffic.

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Parent governor Nicky Stewardson with her four-year-old daughter Lillie, Andy Boddington from Shropshire Council and Councillor Tracey Huffer

After years of discussions a road safety scheme has been installed outside Ludlow Primary School in Sandpits Road, Ludlow, but now it is campaigners who have got the hump.

"It is a hump with no bump," said Councillor Tracey Huffer (Ludlow East). “After years of discussions, a scheme for improving road safety outside the school has been implemented. There are new signs and new road markings.

"The centrepiece of the scheme is a raised table, a wide road hump. But the table is too low. It has no effect on the speed of traffic. If anything, it is speeding traffic up because it is so smooth.”

Councillor Huffer is now calling for an urgent site meeting with highways officers, parents and residents to discuss how the scheme can be improved.

Councillor Huffer adds: "Sandpits Road is for the most part a bumpy ride with the usual patchwork of road repairs and growing potholes. But once drivers get outside the school, there is smooth tarmac. Drivers are picking up speed."

A raised table has been put outside the Happy Shopper at the junction of Sandpits, Livesey and Whitbread Roads. In that case, they say it gives a "distinctive clunk as you drive over it."

It proves "just sufficient to encourage vehicles to slow down without damaging vehicles," she adds.

But it's not the same outside the school.

"It is a smoother drive than the rest of Sandpits Road," she said.

She welcomes new signs and road markings but contends that there is no reduction in traffic speed.

Another good move has been the banning of parking near the school gates between 8am and 5pm, she said.

"Parents dropping off or picking up children, delivery vehicles and visitors to a nearby care home have often parked in the zig zag zone outside the school. Saving a couple of minutes for the convenience of drivers was taking priority over the safety of schoolchildren," she said.

But in terms of the bump in the road she said: "If it to be the model for traffic calming schemes outside schools across the county, then they are doomed to failure.

“We need an urgent meeting with highways officers to determine what can be done about the Sandpits Road scheme which is an obvious failure.”

Steve Brown, Shropshire Council’s head of transport and environment, has since said that the a road safety audit is due and the scheme will be reviewed.

"Officers are very happy to meet up on site to discuss matters with the local councillor," he added.