PETITION: Tiptree and Layer Marney Parish Councils petition to extend the speed limit on Newbridge Road

We undersigned the petition to Essex County Council to:

Consider that the national speed limit (60 mph) in force across the single-track bridge on Newbridge Road to the 30mph limit near Newbridge Park in Tiptree is excessive for the nature of this section of road. This matter has been referred to the Local Highways Panel on numerous occasions, but was judged purely on an average speed survey, which may have been compromised by an unofficial 30mph sign which has since been removed. However, as residents of Tiptree and Layer Marney and users of Newbridge Road, we assert that there are factors beyond speed that should be considered in the decision-making process.

e.g. recreational use and vulnerable users (Sustrans route, walkers, horses) should limit the speed to 40mph and 16 houses over a distance of approximately 350m would indicate a village speed limit of 30mph as laid out in the Essex Speed Management Strategy.

This road can easily be made much safer by reducing the speed limit to 30mph.

1. Our first choice would be a simple extension of the current 30mph speed limit on the edge of the village to beyond the narrow bridge on Newbridge Road (an additional hazard) for a further 100m.
2. Second choice, to make the speed limit 30 mph to include all the houses (approximately 16 more), several businesses including a large business before the bridge and have a buffer zone of 40mph over the bridge for a further 100m.
3. Third choice, to provide a buffer zone of 40 mph from the existing speed limit to over the bridge for a further 100m.

In the interests of those living or working in the properties outside the current speed limit, unless there were good logical or logistical reasons preventing it, option one is the best choice and value.

Please read the rest of our argument and research below:

A. Settlement boundary (purple star) and speed limit (red star)

The problem:

• The current 30 mph speed limit is positioned outside the Tiptree settlement boundary just beyond one cluster of residences but excluding a similar cluster still within Tiptree Parish in the direction of Layer Marney. See photo A.
• There is another cluster of residences opposite the Alexander Cleghorn factory site. This factory produces wood and melamine panels and results in slow moving articulated lorries entering and exiting the site. The Tiptree parish boundary is just beyond the factory entrance. See photo A.
• There are more residences beyond the factory towards the bridge the last few of which are in Layer Marney.
• The Sustrans national cycle route no. 1 runs along Newbridge Road from Layer Marney to Grove Road in Tiptree.
• A number of barns / outbuildings have received planning permission to construct new housing in the last few years, so the trend is to have an increasing number of vehicles turning in and out of drives in this area.
• When leaving Tiptree, the section of road concerned curves to the left and drops 3.7m. This makes six of the property entrances ‘blind’ to drivers passing and exits from these properties are unsighted.
• When approaching Tiptree, the aspect is rural and there are no signs indicating to the driver that they are about to enter Tiptree. The Tiptree boundary sign has been damaged and not replaced.
• There are no pavements or pedestrian ‘safe areas’ along the section of road described.
• Being a rural location, horse riding and horse and carriage driving regularly occurs on this road.
• Roadworks and accidents on the A12 induce traffic to bypass them by using the B1022, which quickly becomes congested, encouraging local B1022 traffic (regular or occasional) to use Newbridge Road, some of this traffic continues to drive as though on the B1022 through lack of awareness of the hazards.
• 30 tonnes rigid and articulated vehicles leaving Tiptree use Newbridge Road to access B1022 at Smythes Green.
• Historically Tiptree did not develop from the centre outwards. It formed from a number of hamlets around the current perimeter which were located in Messing, Inworth, Tolleshunt Knights and Layer Marney parishes. The central area of what is now Tiptree did not finally fill in until the 1960s. Consequently, there are what were originally humble agriculture worker’s dwellings along a track which have become residences with small front gardens on Newbridge Road without an adequate road verge that do not meet the current standards for sightlines for road access.

Consequences and risks:

• There was a serious accident in September 2022 near Cleghorn’s which blocked the road. See photo B.
• There have been 3 reported road traffic accidents (RTA) and numerous ‘near misses’ in the last 3 years.
• The most recent RTA resulted in personal injury to the resident when leaving their property and severe damage to their vehicle (reportedly beyond repair). A vehicle leaving Tiptree was travelling too fast for the road condition (sightlines) and being unable to stop safely, hit the resident’s vehicle. The drive out of the property has always been hazardous as it is double blind to traffic from both directions, there is no safe pavement space to ease forward onto and the residents rely heavily on other drivers to drive at a speed which is appropriate to the road rather than the 60mph speed limit in force. If possible, they try and see each other out of the drive. If this is not possible (quite often) they rely on two road mirrors opposite the drive, they wind down their windows and turn the stereo off and wait to see that the road is clear before pulling out. Once the decision to pull out is made the car is committed and they are reliant on people travelling at a safe speed and paying attention to the road so that they have time to get across to the correct lane safely. Only by accelerating was the resident able to avoid being struck on the driver’s side instead the damage was to the rear quarter and suspension. The driver had to take time off work, with bruising and whiplash and were left with no car to get to and from work, having to walk that stretch of road as a vulnerable pedestrian. They are left with a fear of driving off their drive.
• Vehicles travelling at speed have been known to leave the road and damage roadside property and parked vehicles on their drives.
• As the residences are in clusters it is only natural that people want to visit their neighbours on foot, people are forced to walk on this dangerous narrow stretch. This is one of the places that free magazines are not delivered. It was hair-raising delivering Parish Council leaflets and delivery drivers are at risk.
• Referring to the current official vehicle stopping distances, vehicles travelling in excess of 30mph would not be able to stop safely in the event of, a vehicle exiting their properties, pedestrians walking in the road, cyclists using the road or vehicles parked on the road (e.g. post, delivery or refuse vehicles etc.).
• When a vehicle, leaving Tiptree, comes upon a parked vehicle they tend to cross the road into the other carriageway and drive, usually at speed, around the vehicle rather than slow and proceed around the obstruction with caution. This endangers oncoming vehicles, cyclists and pedestrians.

Accident research:

If you hit a pedestrian:

• at 40 mph there is a 90 percent chance they will be killed.
• at 35 mph there is a 50 percent chance they will be killed.
• at 30 mph there is a 20 percent chance they will be killed.
• at 20 mph there is a 2.5 percent chance they will be killed.
• The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) (USA)states:

But while vehicles are safer now than ever before, traffic fatalities in 2022 were nearly 30% higher than they were in 2014. Risky behaviours like speeding, alcohol impairment and failure to wear a seat belt have contributed to a growing share of fatalities, wiping out many of the gains from safer vehicles. At the same time, the wins in vehicle safety have not benefited all road users equally. Deaths of pedestrians, cyclists and motorcyclists — people who are not protected by a vehicle’s structure — have seen their fatalities rise even more sharply, by 49% from 2014 to 2022.

• Research by The University of Reading implies that drivers of cars with more safety features, feel safer and may then drive faster without considering other road users.
• Extract from email – 6 July 2023, from Police Chief Inspector C.Cox 70692, Colchester District Commander, Colchester Police Station, to Highways Officer for Layer Marney village:

As for reducing the speed limit along Newbridge Road, I am in full favour of any permanent solution to reduce the speed of our roads and therefore reduce the number of injuries and road deaths. Enforcement is not enough and only deals with a single driver at a time. Road calming measures which bring about the reduction in speeds of all vehicles is key.

A suggestion would be to either extend the existing 30mph zone or consider a 40mph ‘buffer’ zone prior to the 30mph sign. This is due to the lack of footpaths on this road meaning that residents are forced to walk in the carriage way, as stated previously in my opinion this also needs to be implemented with other traffic calming measures.

Whilst the number of incidents is small, prevention is always better than having to act when incidents occur.

Survey:

In June 2024, an ECC traffic survey showed:

• The average overall number of vehicles on the road between 07:00 and 19:00 on weekdays was 1710, which means 142.5 per hour with one every 25 seconds passing a particular point, with an average speed of 35.6mph and an 85%ile speed of 42 mph. So 42mph is what an average number of drivers perceive as the safe speed for the road outside Cleghorn’s, but the limit is 60mph which along with a lack of knowledge of the locality may lead to a false impression of what is safe. This also ignores the fact that there is no safe footway for pedestrians thus a 30mph limit would be safer.
• At the time of this survey somebody had installed a realistic 30mph sign on the roadside which may have constrained the speeds recorded. This sign has since been removed.
• The average speed survey does not take into account the number of slow-moving vehicles entering and leaving Alexander Cleghorn’s site.

The 85%ile is based on the theory that most drivers are reasonable and do not want to get in an accident but do want to get to their destination as quickly as possible. Therefore, a speed at which 85 percent of people drive is figured to be the highest safe speed for that road. Therefore, setting a speed limit lower may reduce safety as vehicles begin to bunch, but recent research suggests this is no longer a suitable indication as it does not consider the severity of accidents and that recorded accidents were not in situations where vehicles were bunching. In any case there probably is not enough traffic on this section of Newbridge Road to make bunching likely due to an extended speed limit.

The solution:

This road can easily be made much safer by reducing the speed limit to 30mph.

1. Our first choice would be a simple extension of the current 30mph speed limit on the edge of the village to beyond the narrow bridge on Newbridge Road (an additional hazard) for a further 100m.
2. Second choice, to make the speed limit 30 mph to include all the houses (approximately 16 more), several businesses including a large business before the bridge and have a buffer zone of 40mph over the bridge for a further 100m.
3. Third choice, to provide a buffer zone of 40 mph from the existing speed limit to over the bridge for a further 100m.

In the interests of those living or working in the properties outside the current speed limit, unless there were good logical or logistical reasons preventing it, option one is the best choice and value.

Justification:

• A speed limit of 30 miles per hour applies to all single and dual carriageways with streetlights, unless there are signs showing otherwise. Local councils have the authority to introduce their own speed limits – although these must be clearly signed.
• There is a long standing, precedent on the B1022 at Heckford Bridge where there is a signed 30mph speed limit in operation, where no street lighting is provided, and this section of road has four residential exits.
• Despite there being lower traffic volumes on Newbridge Road compared to Heckford Bridge, Newbridge Road is narrow and winding with high field hedges and overhanging trees all of which impedes visibility.
• The cost of introducing these measures should quickly be outweighed by reducing the lifetime cost to people and property involved in accidents.

Extract from Safer Essex Roads website.

Speeds are regulated for many reasons, including:

• Actual and potential risks on the road are not always obvious or recognisable.

• Drivers can make decisions about their speed without adequately considering the effect of their choices on the safety of other road users.

• Drivers’ inability to judge vehicle capabilities (e.g. stopping distances) and to adequately anticipate roadway geometry and roadside conditions to determine appropriate driving speeds.

• Driver misjudgement of the effects of speed on crash probability and severity.

• The wide range of attitudes to risk within the community, with some drivers engaging in high-risk behaviours, regardless of the consequences.

• The safety benefits of more uniform travel speeds.