Chiseldon Parish Council statement on New Road and the Build Out.  To provide some information on the history of this issue.

  • Around 2017 after a public consultation the PC voted that they would like to have the Build Out removed and would cover the costs of this if required.
  • As Swindon Borough Council are the Highways Authority, they must give permission for this to happen.  The PC cannot arrange for this to happen themselves.
  • We have since had discussions with the various heads of Highways at SBC with regards to getting the Build Out removed.  We have never received approval or a start date for this.
  • We made some progress around 2023 when we met with the then head of SBC Highways and he did agree to look into this further with a view to granting permission.  This person has since left SBC and the position of Head of Highways has not yet been filled.
  • We continue to raise this with SBC in the hope that approval will be given.
  • Our Ward Cllrs are aware that we would like the Build Out removed.
  • We will continue to request from SBC to have the Build Out removed, and either re-located to a safer location on New Road, or another traffic calming scheme introduced.

 

Response from the Senior Traffic Engineer at SBC dated 21.1.25:

Thank you for the email. Staff have changed over the years although I have been in post here 16 years’ and can confirm I was involved in the original safety scheme that saw the installation of the rural speed management scheme for Chiseldon. The scheme was fully consulted with the then Ward Councillors and Parish Council along with the residents who at the time supported the scheme.

I have done a collision analysis for time period (01/01/2016- September 2024) of the area and can confirm there is no recorded injury collisions along New Road that could be associated with this build out. There is one recorded slight injury Collison for 2020 between a cyclist and vehicle at the junction of Station Road, Vehicle 1 car traveling East, V2 Cycle traveling South has cut across the path of V1 to cross the road, not related to the build out contributory factors are as follows, Failed to look properly, failed to judge the speed of vehicle and Poor turn of movement by vehicle 2 .

The feature was installed to reduce speeds, the data shows that the speeds have reduced since the installation of the feature. The location was determined during the design stage and due to a number of engineering difficulties along this route this was identified to be the most suitable location, no concerns were raised through the road safety audit of the scheme.

Should this feature be considered for removal and no traffic calming installed the speeds would increase. You mention replacing for an alternative, the alternatives are normally not favoured such as speed humps, or a chicane systems,  both explored during the feasibility study of the original scheme but ruled out due to the geometry/engineering difficulties of New Road.

Any considerations for a new speed reduction scheme along New Road would require a wider scheme and would need to be prioritised against other priorities of similar nature , for this to be undertaken it would need to meet the minimum criteria and have the evidence to support. For example 1), Speeds not reduced, 2) a record of recorded injury collisions which at the current time there is no evidence to support the removal of the current scheme.