Since the opening of the Town Centre East Access Road concerns have been raised about traffic speeds, particularly in relation to vehicles heading down the East Access Road (linking Sage roundabout and town centre). Of particular concern is the lack of signage to confirm the speed limit.
To monitor speeds, therefore, we arranged for three automatic speed / traffic counters to be installed for a period of 7 days in April. The locations were as follows:
- East Access Road (around the location of the new supermarket access point.
- Roseden Way between the East Access Road and the Community Centre; and
- Roseden Way/Specklewood Way.
The key findings were:
East Access Road
- Average traffic speeds are below the speed limit of 30 mph, which is encouraging given the limited signage from the Spine Road at present. Seven percent of vehicles travelled between 31 and 40 mph and less than 1% were over 41 mph.
Roseden Way
- At both survey locations the average speed recorded was in excess of the 20 mph limit at around 26 mph. 2% of vehicles were recorded travelling between 31 – 40 mph and less than 1% in excess of 41 mph.
- The location with the highest average speed was between the East Access Road and the Community Centre and it was traffic heading towards the town centre from the Community Centre.
- There was no evidence that the lack of signage on the East Access Road was resulting in vehicles travelling towards the Community Centre faster than across the rest of the Great Park road network.
Next Steps
We will be sharing these results with the Consortium and Newcastle City Council.
The Management Company will be working the Consortium and our transport consultants, TPS, to undertake a campaign to remind residents and the local community of the speed limits across the Great Park road network, as well as engaging with the local school and community in designing a signage campaign for ‘20’s Plenty’