Eltisley Parish Council
No Right Turn Campaign
An update from the Highways Agency can be found below...
"I am writing to let you know the latest position regarding the proposed right turn ban for A428/B1040 Eltisley east junction.
In May 2011 it was the intention to deliver the scheme as a hybrid scheme incorporating the right hand turn ban from the A428 east bound in to Cambridge Road at the east end of Eltisley in with the resurfacing work which is planned for October. It was essential that both schemes were delivered together to highlight savings and joined up working.
This has proved very difficult as we still have objections to the speed limit. We can not design the street lighting until we have resolved the speed limit. We therefore concluded that we could not go ahead with the hybrid scheme.
In June 2011 Cambridgeshire Police made it known to us that they preferred a scheme that achieves self-compliance, but in summary, they thought that our proposal seemed to offer no collision saving benefit when viewing the overall objectives. The junction remains visibly similar and will remain open to abuse. Enforcement opportunities will be limited.
On 6 July 2011 we held a meeting with Cambridgeshire Police to discuss this further and to discuss the proposal to implement a 50mph speed limit throughout the length of the street lighting on the A428 beyond Eltisley. During our discussion it was noted that the accident record indicated only 1 incident at the Cambridge Road Junction that might have involved a right turning vehicle. It was agreed that the accident record for both B1040 junctions and the Cambridge Road junction would need to be investigated to see if there is a problem with turning vehicles.
It is obvious to all that due to the existence of a merge lane and/or layby, vehicles are U-turning before they reach the eastern Eltisley junction. A right turn ban would not stop this manoeuvre. We therefore concluded that the accident benefits that would result from such a scheme against the dis-benefits would result in a low score for the economic justification and we concluded that this work should not go ahead.
I realise this reply will be disappointing but difficult decisions have to be made in allocating finite and limited resources and we have had to apply objective criteria and reasoning in reaching this decision.
With reference to the outstanding issue with regards to the existing speed limit throughout this area we have instructed our Managing Agent Contract (MAC) team — Carillion-WSP to undertake a further collision review and speed survey which will go some way towards determining the most appropriate speed limit. I will ensure we keep your Parish informed on progress."
