Agenda and minutes

There were no declarations of interest.

The minutes of the meetings held on 15^th and 22^nd November, 2022 were agreed as true records. There were no matters arising.

Report of the Director of Transportation and Highways

The Cabinet Member considered a report of the Director of Transportation and Highways which sought approval for the implementation of nine Average Speed Enforcement (ASE) schemes at the following locations: Walsgrave Road, Radford Road, Holyhead Road, Tamworth Road, Charter Avenue, Kenilworth Road, Hearsall Common/ Hearsall Lane, Allard Way and Allesley Old Road. Copies of location plans were set out in an appendix to the report.

The report indicated that, whilst the total number of personal injury collisions in Coventry was falling, the number of people killed or seriously injured (KSI) on the city’s main roads was increasing.  Over the 3 year period from March 2017 to February 2020, a total of 378 people were killed or seriously injured on Coventry’s road network.

The City Council received many requests for road safety measures from residents and Members across the city concerned about speeding, including a significant number of petitions.  As the Highway Authority, the Council was responsible for setting speed limits on the local roads. The Coventry road network needed to support a local transport system that was safe for all road users, promoted economic growth, and improved the quality of life in all communities. The Council was the West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA) Road Safety Lead, and was committed to reducing the numbers of people killed or seriously injured (KSI) by 40% over the next 10 years’ using the 3 year average (2014, 2015 and 2016) as the baseline.

To try to reduce personal injury collisions, the Council had introduced 10 ASE schemes on high traffic volume routes that had a high number of KSI’s.  These were on London Road (2 schemes), Ansty Road (2 schemes), Binley Road, Henley Road, Longford Road, Bell Green Road, Burnaby Road and Foleshill Road.  A further ASE scheme (Stoney Stanton Road) was approved by the Cabinet Member on 15th November 2021, and this scheme would become operational in the coming months.

The report informed that the ASE cameras detected vehicles through Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) and calculated their average speed by measuring the time taken to travel between defined points, a known distance apart. A clear signing strategy was used to inform drivers that they were entering an average speed control zone. The report detailed the criteria for selecting sites and also set out the success of the ASE London Road scheme introduced in January 2019 which had significantly reduced the number of accidents and also significantly reduced vehicle speeds, particularly off-peak speeds. Information was also provided highlighting the success of the ASE introduced on the Ansty Road in January 2019. Further details were provided on the other ASE locations operating in the city which showed increases in speed limit compliance and reductions in personal injury collisions.

The report set out the data led case for ASE at additional locations across the city. Contributory factors attributed to the collisions at the following locations: Walsgrave Road, Radford Road/Keresley Road, Holyhead Road, Tamworth Road, Charter Avenue, Kenilworth  ...  view the full minutes text for item 49.

There are no outstanding issues

There were no outstanding issues.

Any other items of public business which the Cabinet Member decides to take as matters of urgency because of the special circumstances involved

There were no additional items of public business.