ePetition details

Community Petition to extend the 30mph zone on the A6076 Howden Bank

We the undersigned petition the Council to • Extend the 30mph speed limit at least 300m NE from it’s current location, to beyond the entrance to Maiden View and Willow Burn Hospice. • Additionally, consider a 40mph limit for the remaining distance of approximately 700m to the 30mph restriction in Maiden Law Village.

Justification:
1. With the occupation of 47 new properties at Maiden View, there is a significant increase pedestrian usage of the single footpath on the W side of the A6076.
Particularly for the many families with young children and dogs, children walking to school and other pedestrians; being so close to a section of national speed limit road is dangerous.
2. There is a southbound central reservation for turning right into Maiden View; this is designated only by paint markings on the road. The space was created by widening the road at the entrance to Maiden View and putting a kink in the existing road. Traffic heading uphill towards Maiden Law is frequently ignoring the marking which requires them to curve left and right around the “reservation”. This is evident by the fact that in a very few months the paint of the reservation, representing the original straight line of the road, has been worn away.
Several residents waiting to turn right into Maiden View have had cars coming uphill swerve very late to avoid a head on accident.
A 30mph limit here would significantly reduce the risk of an accident, allowing cars to more easily follow the designated path of the road.
3. For traffic turning right out of Maiden View, there is a visibility issue. Traffic coming down the hill goes through an almost blind dip in the road, 115m from the junction and adjacent to a bus stop. This restriction in visibility, particularly if other traffic is going uphill, makes turning right out of Maiden View hazardous. At 60mph traffic coming down the hill would reach the junction in 4.3seconds from the dip; being downhill would increase the normal stopping distance should a car pull out.
4. The AA Charitable Trust have recently reported that the A6076 between Annfield Plain and Lanchester is the number 1 most dangerous rural road in the country in terms of crashes for 17-24 year old drivers. Further limiting the speed on this steep section of the A6076 will be one measure to help reduce the risk for young drivers.

This ePetition ran from 13/05/2021 to 30/06/2021 and has now finished.

81 people signed this ePetition.