Villagers call for speed survey
Villagers fighting to cut down speeds on a ‘rush hour rat run’ for commuters to and from Edinburgh have called for an independent traffic surveys to assess how fast drivers are travelling.
West Lothian Council recently voted against introducing a speed reduction measure on Main Street in Mid Calder after council road engineers said studies proved that traffic was travelling within the 30mph speed limit.
But one resident is pushing for a new survey, claiming it was “not viable” for council staff to carry out the research.
That limit on the road is currently a temporary 20mph as part of the Spaces for People project.
Roads network manager Gordon
Brown’s report had outlined that accident figures and speed monitoring did not suggest that measures were warranted.
Resident Graham Campbell, who first raised the issue with the council in November, told the Local Democracy Reporting Service: “I was very disappointed to hear that the council plan to take no action, as it was voted 7-6 at council executive against any traffic calming measures in Mid Calder. I work from home and my office is to the front of the house and I can assure you that traffic is not doing 30mph on average.”
Mr Campbell said road safety monitoring should not be down to councils which have to fund improvements but be carried out by an independent body.
He said: “I feel extremely strongly
that there should be an independent assessment of the situation. The residents of Main Street, Mid Calder want action taken.”
The SNP have branded the council’s policy on road safety reactive rather than proactive.
An amendment by Conservative Damian Doran-Timson was backed at the executive by fellow ward councillor Carl John of the SNP. It questioned the validity of the council’s reliance on the Accident Investigation and Prevention (AIP) scheme, branding it a failure.
Councillor Doran-Timson’s amendment said: “At full council on
September 29, 2020, it was agreed that the council monitor the impact of temporary speed restrictions by method of accident statistics, traffic convictions and complaints and not just on accident data, and for this method to be used in future instead of the ‘no serious accidents being recorded. It has recently come to light that the method of just using accident data to introduce speed reduction measures is failing with this strategy being one of the few council strategies that is in the ‘red’, the latest figures having a target of 43 serious accidents but a figure of 69 recorded. This is failing the people of West Lothian.”
Councillor Doran-Timson said this week: “I was dismayed that the Labour group voted against my proposal to see what measures could be introduced in Mid Calder to reduce speeding. With the increase in traffic in Mid Calder, road safety is becoming a major issue for the residents,so to see the Labour Group playing political games with people’s safety is disgraceful.”
Labour defended the support for the findings of the report on speeds saying that it was relying on the professional expertise of its road engineers, as it would rely on the expertise of any professional hired to work for the council.