Road safety success story: accidents down and speeds slashed on Myton Road in Warwick
Myton Road is a busy commuter route lined with schools between Warwick and Leamington Spa.
In 2007 Warwickshire County Council’s Road Safety Engineering Team identified the route as having a high number of personal injury crashes. As a result a number of improvements were made to the road.
Following a full consultation process, the county council installed a number of pedestrian refuges along the route and a new 30 mph speed limit was introduced from the junction with Banbury Road to the Ford Foundry roundabout. New vehicle activated flashing speed signs were also installed to reinforce the new speed limit.
2 years prior to the changes being installed in September 2007, there were 14 personal injury crashes (11 slight/3 slight). Since implementation the number of crashes has dramatically reduced by more than 40% to 8 personal injury crashes within the last 2 years (7 slight/1serious).
For a large part of the day Myton Road is used by children accessing the many schools along the road, therefore it was vital the measures successfully reduced vehicle speeds. By monitoring the site, before and after data has shown that the scheme has successfully slashed vehicle speeds
Location 1 (Nr Banbury Rd rbt): before scheme: 31.8mph/after: 26.8mph (-5mph reduction)
Location 2 (Opposite Myton: School) before scheme: 35.2mph/after: 28.5mph (-6.7mph reduction)
Location 3 (Nr Homebase):before scheme: 32.8mph/after: 27.9mph (-4.9mph reduction)
Councillor Richard Hobbs, portfolio holder for community safety, said: “I am very pleased to see such a wonderful reduction in road casualties. Each injury crash can result in a great deal of pain and suffering for those involved. Thankfully, due to the intervention of the Road Safety Engineering Team – we have seen significant improvements to the safety of road users along Myton Road”.
Principal engineer, Jo Edwards added: “We are delighted to see such a positive reduction in traffic speeds, and will continue to monitor the situation. We are dedicated to reducing road casualties were there are the highest number of people being hurt.
"By intervening on routes such as Myton Road, we can positively reduce the number of people being hurt on Warwickshire’s roads”.