In 1991 a joint study between the County Surveyors' Society, the Department of Transport, the Welsh Office and the Scottish Office was set up to look at the problem of speeding traffic in villages. A working group was formed to investigate the costs, benefits and effectiveness of measures aimed at constraining the speed of vehicles passing through villages and improving the safety and quality of life in these communities. Early in 1992, 24 villages where there were plans to install engineering measures were selected for monitoring co-ordination by TRL. The sample covered a wide geographical spread, a range of road types, a range of village sizes, a range of traffic flows, and a number of different types of measures (road narrowing, surface treatment, rumble strips, road markings and signing, for example). The schemes have been designed primarily by the relevant Local Highway Authorities and Regional Offices; implementation will be complete by mid-1993. The monitoring initially involves 'before' and 'after' measurements of traffic speeds and volumes. Some public opinion surveys have also been undertaken. In parallel with this study, the effects of groups of similar schemes already installed in villages in Devon and Gloucestershire have been investigated. The paper describes the schemes and monitoring in both studies and presents the results available to date and initial conclusions concerning the relative effectiveness of different measures at reducing speeds. (A)
Abstract