Report to:

Lead Member for Transport and Environment

 

Date of meeting:

 

17 January 2022

By:

Director of Communities, Economy and Transport

 

Title:

Petition calling on the County Council to reduce the speed of traffic in Jevington

 

Purpose:

To consider the petition calling on the County Council to place a speed hump just before the entrance of Green Lane, Jevington to help reduce the speed of traffic in Jevington

 

RECOMMENDATIONS: The Lead Member is recommended to advise the petitioners that:

(1)  Speed humps or a traffic calming scheme in the Green Lane area of Jevington are not a priority for the County Council at the present time;

(2)  A traffic calming scheme in Jevington does not currently meet the benchmark score for consideration within a future capital programme, but they may wish to contact Willingdon and Jevington Parish Council to determine their interest in a community funded scheme through the Community Match initiative. A Feasibility Study (at a cost of £500) would be required prior to a Community Match application; and

(3)  The existing traffic signs on the approaches to Green Lane will be reviewed to identify whether any improvements would be appropriate. 

 

1       Background Information

1.1       At the County Council meeting on 23 July 2021, Councillor Stephen Shing presented a petition to the Chairman of the Council. The petition states: “The small community of East Jevington on the C40 road has several Equine stable yards, and many horses use this area especially around Green Lane. Vehicles have been monitored by Willingdon Community Speed Watch Group travelling in excess of 55mph in this 30mph zone. The residents of the Parish of Willingdon and Jevington ask East Sussex County Council to place a speed hump just before the entrance of Green Lane to help reduce the speed of traffic before a very serious accident occurs”. 

1.2       A copy of the petition is available in the Members’ Room.  Standing Orders provide that where the Chairman considers it appropriate, petitions are considered by the relevant Committee or Lead Member and a spokesperson for the petitioners is invited to address the Committee.  The Chairman has referred this petition to the Lead Member for Transport and Environment.

 

2          Supporting Information

 

2.1       The village of Jevington is situated on the C40 Jevington Road to the west of Eastbourne. A Location Plan is included in Appendix 1.   

2.2       The more built-up part of Jevington is subject to a 30mph speed limit between a point 44-metres north of Green Lane and a point 160-metres south of Eastbourne Lane (a total distance of approximately 835-metres). The road width within the extent of the 30mph speed limit varies from between approximately 4.2-metres and 5.5-metres. The extent of the 30mph speed limit in Jevington is indicated in Appendix 2.

2.3       Green Lane is a non-maintained ancient highway/By-way open to all traffic. The sightlines at the Green Lane junction are restricted to the north by the front boundary wall of ‘Coopers’, and to the south by the outbuilding of ‘Water End’. The County Council does not have sufficient land in its control to improve the sightlines at the junction. There is a 1-metre wide 17-metres long footway on the western side of the C40 Jevington Road immediately to the south of the Green Lane junction. Photographs indicating the sightlines and footway at the junction are provided in Appendix 3.  

2.4       A traffic survey carried out on the C40 near Green Lane recorded the average two-way traffic flow to be 2434 vehicles per day between 9 and 17 November 2021. The average speed of traffic was recorded at 25mph northbound and 25mph southbound, with 85th percentile speeds (the speed that 85% of drivers are travelling below) of 30mph northbound and 31mph southbound. The results of the traffic survey are summarised in Appendix 2, and a copy is included in Appendix 4.

2.5       There have not been any personal injury crashes reported to the Police within the 30mph speed limit on the C40 Jevington Road in the latest available five-years of data (1 November 2016 to 31 October 2021). 

2.6       The construction of road (speed) humps on a public highway is controlled by national legislation and guidance issued by the Department for Transport. Road humps cannot be used in isolation, they can only be used as part of a wider traffic calming scheme. Road humps also require street lighting to be present. Traffic calming schemes are therefore very expensive.

2.7       The resources that are available for road safety are limited and priority must be given to locations with a history of personal injury crashes.  As part of this year’s Road Safety Programme for Local Safety Sites, the County Council has identified 59 locations where at least four personal injury crashes have occurred in the latest three-years. As the safety record within the extent of the 30mph speed limit at Jevington is very good, a road hump at Green Lane, as part of a wider traffic calming scheme in Jevington, is not an identified road safety priority for the County Council.

 

2.8       A traffic calming scheme on the C40 Jevington Road has been assessed using the High Level Sift process, to see whether it might be a priority for future consideration as part of the Capital Programme for Transport Improvements. However, it did not achieve the benchmark score required to enable a more detailed assessment to be taken forward.

 

2.9       Although traffic calming in the vicinity of Green Lane in Jevington is not a priority for the County Council, the petitioners may wish to contact Willingdon and Jevington Parish Council to determine their interest in a community funded scheme through the Community Match initiative. A Feasibility Study (at a cost of £500) would be required prior to a Community Match application.

 

2.10    During a site visit by the Road Safety Officer it was noted that there could be scope for improving the advanced traffic signing for this area. A full review will therefore be undertaken to identify whether improvements could be made to highlight to drivers the need to proceed with caution.

 

3       Conclusion and Reasons for Recommendations

3.1       It is recommended that the Petitioners be advised that speed humps or a traffic calming scheme in the Green Lane area are not a priority for the County Council at the present time.  

3.2       It is recommended that the Petitioners be advised that a traffic calming scheme in Jevington does not meet the benchmark score for consideration within a future capital programme, but they may wish to contact Willingdon and Jevington Parish Council to determine their interest in a community funded scheme.

3.3       It is recommended that the Petitioners be advised that the existing signs near Green Lane will be reviewed to establish whether any improvements to the traffic signs would help advise drivers of the alignment of the road and risk of pedestrians and accompanied horses in the road ahead.  

 

RUPERT CLUBB

Director of Communities, Economy and Transport

Contact Officer: Michael Higgs
Tel.No. 01273 482106

Email: michael.higgs@eastsussex.gov.uk

LOCAL MEMBER: 

 

Councillor Stephen Shing

BACKGROUND DOCUMENTS: 

None