Speed Check reveals not necessarily so…

For some time there have been concerns regarding the speed of traffic passing through the village, particularly on Hornton Lane, and also at the bridge on Banbury Lane. Earlier in the year the Parish Council agreed to investigate these issues, and establish whether it would be appropriate to ask the highway authority, Oxfordshire County Council to make any changes.

An informal speed check exercise was carried out with Thames Valley police in April on Hornton Lane, but only one vehicle was recorded as exceeding the 30 mph limit during that exercise. However, it was only a snapshot lasting just over an hour. In May the County Council installed a traffic monitoring device on Hornton Lane, which counted all the vehicles using the lane over the period of one week, and recorded their speeds.

This traffic survey revealed that approximately 75% of vehicles using Hornton Lane were travelling within the 30 mph speed limit. Of the others, the great majority were travelling at between 31 and 35 mph, with a very small number travelling faster than that. These results have been discussed with the highway authority who do not consider that they justify any action to calm traffic at this time. Anyone wishing to see all the data produced by the traffic survey can find this on the agenda for the Parish Council meeting held on 12 November 2015.

The bridge on Banbury Lane

The issue of the bridge on Banbury Lane has also been discussed with the County highways engineer. There is no speed limit on the road at this point, but the width of the road across the bridge, the limited visibility, and the speed of traffic is considered to represent a risk. The highways engineer has indicated that he would be prepared to erect suitable warning signs designed to slow traffic approaching the bridge, and the Parish Council has requested that this work be done. Subject to funds being available the engineer will also repaint the existing white lines in the area next year.