2.1 Methodology
The review was carried out by Terry Stolworthy, Richard Hubbard and Gareth Williams of Jacobs Engineering UK Ltd (KHS Road Safety) Maidstone. All reviewers come from a Kent policing background where training has included assessment of vehicle speeds and road characteristics.
For the purposes of the review each road has been broken down into sites, each of which represents a current length of existing speed limit. Each site was visited and the environment through which the road passes was assessed and compared with the guidelines laid down in Circular 01/2006. Each site / road was driven on several occasions at various times of the day to assist in establishing vehicle mean speeds throughout the length of each site. Static location speed check data has been obtained within some sites and where relevant has been used within the body of the report.
The following summary tables provide the characteristics given within Circular 01/2006, which have been used during the Area 1 review.
Speed Limits for single carriageway roads in rural areas |
Speed Limit (mph) |
Characteristics |
60 |
Recommended for most high quality strategic A and B roads with few bends, junctions or accesses |
50 |
Should be considered for lower quality A and B roads which may have a relatively high number of bends, junctions or accesses.
Can also be considered where mean speeds are below 50 mph, so lower limit does not interfere with traffic flow. |
40 |
Should be considered where there is a high number of bends, junctions or accesses, substantial development, where there is a strong environmental or landscape reasons, or where there are considerable numbers of vulnerable road users. |
30 |
Should be the norm in villages |
A tour of the trial area was conducted with Councillor John Wilson (acting as a Parish Council representative) and 3 additional Parish Councillors were invited to act as representatives for Area 1.
A similar tour was conducted with Police Constable Geoffrey Bineham of the Kent Police Traffic Management Unit, Coldharbour, Maidstone.
The following is a series of technical reports relating to each of the routes.
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