Vehicle speed at Oxford Gardens

Dear Ms Alves,

I refer to the petition, signed by local residents regarding excessive vehicular speeds, along Oxford Gardens, Stafford. I can advise you that receipt of the petition will be reported to Cllr Helen Fisher, Cabinet Member for Highways & Transport.

The County Council justifies the significant investment of road safety improvements on the basis of a reduction in personal injury collisions at the location.

Every site that is recommended for treatment on an accident basis is prioritised for funding across the County. As the budget for road safety improvements is finite however, it is the sites with the greatest proven need which are treated first and these will have a cluster of incidents with a discernible trend or pattern in the cause of each.

I can confirm that Staffordshire County Council was made aware of the local concerns about traffic speeds on Oxford Gardens during 2017. Officers considered the road traffic collision history involving personal injury on this route where these incidents have been recorded by the police. The most recent 5 years of data from 1 January 2013 to 31 December 2017, plus any other known data for Oxford Gardens was considered and this has been reviewed again.

Thankfully, Oxford Gardens does not meet the criteria in terms of speed related collisions involving serious personal injury for speed-reducing engineering measures to be considered at this time. The County Council will therefore continue to monitor data for this location and if a pattern of treatable collisions emerges then remedial measures, proportionate to the accident problem, will be proposed and prioritised against other locations across Staffordshire.

Where data does not exist to support improvements, but where community concern remains, the Divisional Highway Programme (DHP) can be used to secure funding for measures that would otherwise not meet the criteria for intervention.

I can confirm that this matter was recorded on the local County Councillor’s DHP during 2017 and may be considered in the future as a Local Community Priority, although only a limited number of community-led requests can be prioritised for further investigation each financial year.

This particular matter has not been prioritised above the many other competing demands in the locality; however, the matter will be discussed at the next DHP review and these take place every six months.

Should you require further information regarding your petition please contact Richard Rayson on 0300 111 8000.

Yours sincerely

Amanda Felton

Executive Support Officer