On Tue, 27 Jul 2010 20:42:15 +0100, Neil Williams
wrote:
On Tue, 27 Jul 2010 17:46:25 +0100, Graeme
wrote:

The fact that such limits end at local authority borders despite there being
absolutely no difference in road conditions each side of the border.

Oxfordshire's limits were placed on an arbitrary rolling basis, with
the long term aim of the entire network of secondary roads having
50mph limits and the entire network of tertiary roads having 40mph
limits, AIUI. Only trunk roads would retain NSL.

That's just silly. If they think the NSL should be reduced, they
should visibly and openly be campaigning for that on a national basis.
Otherwise, lower limits should only be imposed where accident
statistics or expected accidents actually cause them to make sense.


Had Labour been re-elected, the National Speed Limit on single
carriageway roads would have been reduced to 50 mph. It would have
happened before the General Election but someone must have realised
that it might not be such a popular policy.

The idea was that local authorities could designate specific single
carriageway roads of a high standard of design and low accident
statistics as 60 mph roads. This would have required special signage
and, for the first time, allowed some roads to have speed limits
greater than the National Speed Limit.


Interesting observation - people are so conditioned to village speed
limits that the prevailing speed in the village of Mentmore (Bucks I
think) near Tring is about 30-40mph, but it's actually NSL - for some
reason it seems to have escaped having a 30 slapped on it (would be
entirely justified if one was), and it is unlit so doesn't get it by
default, AIUI. The village whose name I forget on the road from
Aylesbury to Wing was similar until about 5 years ago when it got a
40.


That would be Rowsham. Locals had been campaigning for a speed limit
(below NSL) for years but it took an accident where a vehicle left the
road on the bend (*the* bend) and demolished a fence and a garden
shed, narrowly missing the homeowner, who was in the garden at the
time, to galvanise the local authority into action.

Rowsham not only got its 40 mph speed limit, it also got the main
road's entire carriageway expensively resurfaced with "whisper
asphalt" and calming measures in the form of several traffic islands
whose 'keep left' signs are regularly flattened. ;-)

Of course Wing and Rowsham were due to get a bypass, which would
extend the dual carriageway A4146 Linslade and Stoke Hammond bypass
along the A418 to almost the outskirts of Bierton (Aylesbury). But
there were competing routes, none of which would fully relieve Wing of
through traffic, so the last government dropped the proposal. It is
unlikely to see the light of day during the current fiscal squeeze.