Shropshire Star

Speed monitors installed in Ironbridge

Automatic speed monitors have been placed along roads in Ironbridge following concerns of speeding in the town.

Published
The newly installed speed monitors

Five automatic traffic counters (ATCs) have been set up along Wharfage and Tontine Hill to record the speed and number of vehicles travelling down the roads.

The ATCs work when cars drive over two rubber tubes laying across the road that link up to a recorder box.

The tubes measure both the speed and the number of vehicle movements as well as the weight to differentiate between cars and HGVs.

Concerns were raised within the community after speed bumps were removed from the road and not replaced when it was resurfaced in 2016.

Having been installed last week, contractors are expected to remove the monitors later this week following a two week data collection period.

The results will then be collated and assessed to see if speeds have increased compared with the data the council captured when the speed bumps were first removed.

The ATCs were originally planned to be in place for one week, before being extended to obtain wider ranging data.

Consultation

Councillor Nicola Lowery, representative for the Ironbridge Gorge on Telford & Wrekin Council, said: "I am pleased to see the automatic traffic counters are now in place following concerns raised from many residents, our business community and myself as the local borough councillor regarding speeds in this part of the Ironbridge Gorge.

"Residents have carried out consultation with properties along this road and many seem in favor of improving speed calming in this area.

"I know many people within the Gorge have concerns surrounding the speed of traffic in this area and it has been great to work together as a community to ensure speeds are assessed further as it is imperative and appropriate measures are put in place to protect our community."