National Highways has introduced a lower speed limit to improve safety and address severance on a single carriageway section of the A303 through a Wiltshire village.
The government-owned company said that through working with Wiltshire Police and Wiltshire Council, it had identified safety issues with residents’ access to the main route to the South West at Chicklade.
It has now reduced the speed limit from 50mph to 40mph under a permanent speed reduction order as part of what it called ‘an ongoing trial’.
As part of the ‘road safety study’, National Highways has installed new signage and road markings, with new road studs and vehicle-activated signage to be installed in the near future.
A303 route manager Chris Hilldrup said: ‘We constantly monitor the safety performance of all our roads, including the A303.
‘Given the longstanding severance and access issues for the village, evidenced by an increase in incidents recently, we have engaged with Tim Pollard, the parish chair, and residents, and took the decision to reduce the speed limit initially. This will be enforceable, and we will conduct further monitoring in the meantime.
‘This study will consider all aspects of road safety for both users of the A303 and the local community and, continuing to work with our local authority partners, data will help to inform evidence for any potential future measures.’
Perry Payne from the Wiltshire and Swindon Road Safety Partnership said: ‘This is a really good result from partners listening to communities, reacting and continuously working together to make our roads safer.
‘Wiltshire Police will continue to provide future enforcement support should it be necessary.’
Caroline Thomas, Wiltshire Council cabinet member for transport, said: ‘I would like to thank National Highways for reducing the speed limit and making access on to the A303 safer for both local residents and visitors.’
