Dear Sir

I live in ***** and travel the A610 daily to and from work. Roadworks have recently been carried out on this stretch of road to renew and extend the Armco in the central reservation making the road safer. However, now the work has been completed new speed limits have been introduced so that:

A610 from Nuthall to the M1 junc 26 roundabout is dual carriageway and set at 40 mph
The M1 roundabout is set to the National Speed Limit (NSL) (60mph)
A610 30 yards after the M1 roundabout is set back to 40 mph for a mile or so until the top of the hill where it becomes 50mph and this carries on past the slip road for Ikea where it finally becomes NSL again.

Could somebody explain why we have this absurd situation where it is considered acceptable and legal to travel at 60mph on a round about and yet a dual carriageway that was 70mph has now been reduced to 40 mph, a speed which is blatantly ignored by the majority of drivers suggesting that the 85th percentile speeds were ignored when this limit was set.

Yours sincerely

Dear xxxx

Thank you for your email regarding the A610.

I would like to advise you that the Highways Agency is responsible for the M1 motorway, however, the A610 is maintained by the local authority. I believe that if you contact Nottingham City Council on telephone number 0115 915 5555 or highways@nottinghamcity.gov.uk they will be able to assist with your query.

I hope this information is of assistance.

Regards

Michelle
Highways Agency Information Line
08457 50 40 30

Dear OllyK

Thank you for your email. Please can you provide us with your postal address so that Alan Simpson MP can reply accordingly.

Yours sincerely
Caroline Watson

Parliamentary Researcher to Alan Simpson MP
House of Commons
London
SW1A 0AA

0207 219 4534
fax 0207 219 4657

Dear OllyK

Thank you for e-mailing Judy Mallaber MP with your concerns over the introduction of new speed limits. Please can you supply Judy with an address and contact telephone number so that she can write her reply due to the dissolution of Parliament. Judy is asking the Highways Authority for an answer to your questions. Judy tells me she too has recently traveled on this stretch of road and has been bemused by the speed limit changes.

Thank you for contacting Judy Mallaber MP about this issue.

Sue Reaney
Constituency Office at Amber Valley

01773 512792

RE: A610 KIMBERLEY/EASTWOOD BYPASS - NEW SPEED LIMIT RESTRICTIONS
Thank you for your email of 4/4/05. We do not appear to have received your previous email which was sent to Nottingham City Council. Nottinghamshire County Council has a policy of attempting to reply to the majority of incoming mail within 10 working days, but I apologise that this has not occurred with your original email for whatever reason.

The decision to reduce speed limits was not taken lightly. During the period 01/01/97 to 31/12/03 there have been 69 reported injury accidents on the A610 between the A6096 Giltbrook Roundabout and the M1. Of these, 8 were fatal road traffic accidents, 13 were serious and 48 were slight

Despite numerous accident remedial measures (Ice warning signs, Cycle Facility, Street lighting, High Friction Surfacing, Yellow bar markings, Vegetation trimming, Queue warning signs, Drainage) this short 3.5km section of the derestricted dual carriageway has been the scene, on average, of at least 1 death and 3 serious injuries annually for the past 7 years. Clearly this was unacceptable. It was time for more drastic measures and hence the reduction of the 70mph speed limits. Drivers mistakenly perceive this section of road to be a modern high-speed dual carriageway. The road was opened in 1975 and design standards have since progressed. The road geometry, within the vicinity of junction 26, would not be desired on a modern dual carriageway. By modern standards the existing speed of the majority of vehicles is inappropriate and this is certainly confirmed by the accident data.

A speed limit of 40mph has been introduced from east of the High Street overbridge to the A6002 Nuthall Roundabout. This is the appropriate speed limit for this section of road, which has major problems associated with the bends and queuing traffic.

A speed limit of 50mph has been introduced from west of the A6096 Giltbrook Roundabout to east of the High Street overbridge. This is primarily to act as a 'buffer zone' prior to the 40mph section. However it has the added benefit of reducing speeds where junction accidents occur associated with entering and leaving at the 'IKEA' and Giltbrook slip roads.

The reduction of the existing speed limit will help reduce not only the number of accidents, but also their severity. In an effort to further reduce accident severity central reserve safety fencing has been installed. Whilst safety fence is an excellent device, it only reduces the severity of the accident. It is far better to prevent the accident occurring in the first place. Unfortunately visibility constraints preclude its installation on the bends which emphasizes the need for such a drastic reduction to 40mph at these locations.

With regard to your more specific enquiry on the nature of speed limits on roundabouts, I would reply that speed limits only represent a maximum speed and drivers will recognise that the maximum speed is not appropriate at all points along a road if there are obvious hazards such as roundabouts, junctions, sharp bends, etc. Ultimately the roundabout itself provides speed restraint at these locations.

The decision on whether to extend ongoing speed limit restrictions through roundabouts, such as the M1 Jcn 26 which is in the middle of a 40mph length on the A610, often depends on site constraints and the best effect that can be achieved by the required signing. We took the decision at Jcn 26 that continuing the speed limit through the roundabout would be undesirable for two reasons. Firstly, it would have resulted in signing being erected on the M1 slip roads which would have detracted the drivers attention from the traffic signal heads or possibly restricted the driver's forward visibility to them on this 70mph approach. Secondly, this would have also meant that the only signing of the 40mph speed limit on the A610 route through the roundabout would have been small repeater signs. Breaking the speed limit either side of Jcn 26 allowed us to place large terminal speed limit entry signs at this mid-point along the 40mph section and meant the signs were on a lower speed approach to the Jcn 26 signals. This situation is not uncommon at many roundabouts across the County and Jcn 26 has in any case always been subject to the National Speed Limit of 70mph, the National Speed Limit of 60mph only being applicable to single carriageway roads.

We are continuing to monitor developments along this route and plan to install additional signing shortly. A scheme of road markings, which was planned as part of the original scheme but delayed due to possible resurfacing works, will also be undertaken. I hope this explains the thinking behind the design of the scheme and assures you that we have carefully considered the full ramifications of introducing these speed limits restrictions.

Yours sincerely
K.J. Hourd
Senior Improvements Officer - Highways South
Tel: 0115 8786032
Fax: 0115 8786057