SID has arrived in Astley Village

As reported some time ago the Parish Council of Astley Village has purchased a Speed Indicator Device for the sole use in the village - and it went up for the first time at the start of April.

There are six positions in the village - so look out for SID and make sure you get a smiley face from SID.

The SID the Parish Council has purchased incorporates a record and log facility and information was gathered from its first location, entering the village from Westway heading northwards from The Farthings into the centre.

The first set of data, although for a very limited timeframe from Wednesday afternoon 1 April to Friday morning 3 April was still interesting to analyse. The data is collected in 15 minutes slots and in zones of speeds ie, 21 to 31 mph, 31 to 41 mph etc.

• 5.00 pm to 5.45 pm was the busiest period with an average of 43 vehicles per 15 minutes and the majority of traffic exceeding the speed limit.
• The 8.15 am to 9.00 am period was the second busiest period of the day an average of 33 vehicles per 15 minutes
• A total of 1,774 vehicles pass the camera in a 24 hour period.
• Overall in one 24 hour period 55% of vehicles were travelling at 30 mph or under whereas a lesser 45% were exceeding the speed limit.
• The evening of the first monitoring day one vehicle exceeded 50mph, but none were recorded on the second day of monitoring.

COUNCIL SET TO WELCOME SIDs ARRIVAL

Councillors from Astley Village Parish Council have taken the decision to purchase a Speed Indicator Device (SID), for the village, after they received shocking information revealed in a traffic survey conducted on Chancery Road.

So alarmed at the facts revealed by the survey, the council’s Chairman Cllr Mark Perks brought the findings to the Council’s July meeting.

The traffic survey carried out by Lancashire County Council highways unit, revealed some very interesting trends but also some shocking statistics about speeding vehicles on Chancery Road.

• In an average week there are a surprising 25,201 traffic movements on Chancery Road, that is adding all the vehicles going both ways for 24 hours a day for a full week.
• Wednesday in Astley Village is the busiest traffic day with an average 3,949 movements
• Sunday the quietest with 2,913 movements.
• Heading south from Euxton Lane roundabout, through the village to Westway junction gets more traffic than heading northbound by over 500 vehicles passing by.

The survey’s most shocking statistic though revealed the speed of those vehicles. Taking the busiest day, a Wednesday, over the full 24 hours, of the 2,063 vehicles that travelled down Chancery Road heading southbound:

* 560 were doing 30mph or under but,

* 1,503 were travelling 30 or over

* 7 of those 1,503 were travelling over 50 mph.

Most shocking of all, one Friday evening between 8pm and 9pm there was a vehicle clocked at 65+ mph.

Astley Village Parish Council Chairman Mark Perks commented, “ The only through road in the village is Chancery Road which has a speed limit of 30 mph. All the residential areas lead of this road.

With a primary school, two sheltered accommodation homes and so many junctions along its route I am staggered by the speeding traffic statistics.

The survey indicated that on one of the busiest days 1511 vehicles over 50% of those using this road were breaking the speed limit. A serious and shocking road traffic accident is just waiting to happen.

The speed of traffic through the village is brought up regularly at PACT meetings. The Parish Council feels most strongly that action is needed to combat the dangers of speeding through our village and the purchase of a Speed Indicator was felt to be a useful tool to have.”

The Council has received a grant from LCC Parish Champion to assist in the purchase of the speed indicator device. The aim is to not only reminder drivers of their speed, but also to record data. The device will record the speed of traffic and use this information regularly to provide to residents through the parish newsletter.