Agenda item

Report of the Deputy Chief Executive (Place)

To consider the above petition, bearing 8 e-signatures. The petition organiser has been invited to the meeting for consideration of this item

The Cabinet Member for City Services considered a report of the Deputy Chief Executive (Place) in response to a petition, received from a Woodlands Ward resident, that requested traffic calming measures on Eastern Green Lane. The report considered Upper Eastern Green Lane which had centre carriageway hatched ladder markings along its full length coupled with ‘SLOW’ road markings and Lower Eastern Green Lane which already had physical traffic calming measures comprising speed cushions and a 20mph zone. The Petition Organiser, Mr Adey, attended the meeting for consideration of the matter and to speak on behalf of the petitioners.

The petition, bearing 8 e-signatures, read:

‘This petition is being raised to request that the Council and its officers implement traffic calming measures along the length of Eastern Green Lane, in order to slow traffic to the limits prescribed and by doing so avoiding the opportunity for injury or near miss incidents to local residents. We would request more speed limit proactive signage and the review of other methods not only limited to signage i.e. the installation of safe crossing areas and road bollards to avoid people driving at speed along the centre of the road or indeed 'chicane' installations’.

In accordance with the City Council's procedure for dealing with petitions, those relating to parking and road safety were heard by the Cabinet Member for City Services.  The Cabinet Member had considered the petition prior to this meeting and in response to the request made, requested that the petition was dealt with by letter (determination letter), rather than a formal report being submitted to a meeting; to be able to deal with the matter more efficiently.

The determination letter advised of the of the importance of targeting road safety measures in the city. Coventry was continuing to work towards becoming a safer speed City and to ensure its funding was utilised carefully, personal injury collisions reported to the Police were used. A review of personal recorded injury collision history for Upper Eastern Green Lane had been reviewed and showed that there was one personal injury collision recorded on Upper Eastern Green Lane in the last three years therefore, did not meet the safety scheme criteria. Lower Eastern Green Lane already has a safety scheme in place comprising speed cushions and a 20mph zone. On receipt of the determination letter, that provided an option to request a Cabinet Member report to be considered at a Cabinet Member meeting if so wished, the Petition Organiser advised that they did not wish the petition to be progressed by letter and wanted the issue to be considered through a report at a Cabinet Member for City Services meeting. An Appendix to the report provided a site plan of the location and a further Appendix to the report provided a copy of the determination letter.

The report indicated that as the petitioners raised concerns about speeding, information detailing the Community Speed Watch initiative was also included in the determination letter. The Community Speed Watch initiative was a speed monitoring and awareness scheme that was co-ordinated by the Police and run by a group of local volunteers who used speed detection devices to monitor traffic and identify speeding drivers on a specific road or small area.

Mr Adey outlined the concerns raised by the petition confirming the significant problem with speeding vehicles. Acknowledging the criteria for prioritising areas for further action, he expressed his concern that actual traffic accidents did not give an accurate picture of the situation which he felt was far greater than recorded. He was concerned that recorded traffic accidents were the statistics used to assess the priority of an area for further action and that an alternative risk-based analysis would be a reasonable approach to adopt. He confirmed that Community Speed Watches were successful and that letters sent by the Police to offending drivers did have an effect.

Mr Adey emphasised the benefits of installing VAS in the area and discussed the cost of purchasing the units. He acknowledged the limited Council resources available that had to be carefully utilised and welcomed the investigation of funding alternatives.

Having considered the report and the comments made by Mr Adey and the Traffic Management Officers, the Cabinet Member decided that officers explore alternative funding for the purchase of VAS units and agreed that the actions confirmed by determination letter be undertaken.

RESOLVED that the Cabinet Member for City Services:

1)  Note the petitioners’ concerns.

2)  Endorse that the actions confirmed by determination letter to the petition spokesperson (as detailed in paragraphs 1.6 & 1.7 of the report) are undertaken.