Hall Lane Speed Limit Extension
It’s been a long road…
The Parish Council embarked on this journey in July 2019 and it marked a major change in attitude within the council. It took the bold decision to stop kicking cans down the road and get things done.
The 30mph speed limit extension in Hall Lane was identified as necessary to help make the village a safer place to live for everyone, so we set about getting it done.
we’ve done it…
when so many said we couldn’t…
Highways Site TRO Location Plan
On 4th August we received the Site TRO Location Plan from the Highways department of Norfolk County Council.
This is a significant part of the planning process and it clearly shows the existing 30mph limit zone and the proposed extension zone… all 776m of it.
We also received written confirmation that the highway work will be carried out by Norfolk County Councils Community and Environmental Services Department and their contractors.
The next stage will be to advertise the Traffic Regulation Order from 18th March until 12th April. If there are no objections it can then be arranged to seal the order and arrange for the new signs to be installed.
On 28th February 2020, the Fete Committee emailed the Chairman of the Parish Council to confirm that it had made £7,000 available to contribute towards the cost of our Road Safety initiatives.
Good afternoon Peter
Following our meeting of the Knapton Village Fete committee we confirm that we have funds available to the tune of £7000.00.We understand that there will be other grant funding applied for and wish you every success with this
At the Parish Council meeting in March the Parish Council unanimously agreed to make £2,000 available from council funds to put towards it’s Road Safety initiatives, specifically the 30mph speed limit extension in Hall Lane.
This funding provides a safety net should costs exceed Highway’s estimates.
If these funds are not required, it was also agreed to give the balance back to the Fête Committee.
The Site
Hall Lane runs from the junction with Knapton Road (click here to read about our proposed changes to this junction), through our Village, past the Butterfly Walk car park and the main entrance to Pigney Woods on it’s way to North Walsham. It is narrow and twisty with two 90˚ bends as it climbs up to the village and the hedges and verges make sight of on-coming traffic impossible along most of it’s length, no matter which direction you are travelling. Knapton is a farming community, so heavy tractors, combines and all the associated trailers etc typically travel on our roads daily.
The Numbers
According to our SAM2 Speed Awareness camera, 6,908 cars travelled one way down Hall Lane and almost half of them were exceeding the 30mph speed limit when they passed the camera which was sited opposite the entrance to the MADRA site.
Pleased to get official notice from Norfolk County Council starting process to extend the 30mph speed limit along Hall Lane, Knapton. I backed the hard work of Parish Councillors who have pressed for this to happen with the local highways allowance I have as a County Councillor.
Ed Maxfield
Norfolk County Councillor
https://twitter.com/MaxfieldEd
The Problem
The number of instances of vehicles in general, but Vans and HGVs in particular, travelling between Mundesley and North Walsham and using Hall Lane as a proverbial “Rat Run” has increased steadily over the last few years. Coincidently, the number of accidents, close shaves and near misses have increased proportionally as vehicles can legally travel on a narrow, bendy road at up to 60mph… only to meet another, often bigger vehicle coming towards them at the same speed or more as they round the next bend.
Heading towards Knapton from North Walsham, Hall Lane enters the outskirts of our village just after the car park for the Butterfly Walk. From this point, properties sit almost on the road, their driveways virtually concealed entrances as the road twists and turns. There are no pavements or footpaths for our elderly residents and young school children to use to escape traffic which can legally travel at 60mph… just grass verges and hedges.
I have personally witnessed a resident having to quickly step into a hedge to avoid being hit by one of two large vehicles that were trying to pass each other at speed (albeit with their brake lights on) on a narrow bend. Neither of them could have known what was coming towards them, they just rolled the dice.
Peter Neatherway
Chairman of Knapton Parish Council
Our progress
On 23rd October, following our meeting with the Police & Highways, our Road Safety committee received an email;
Further to our meeting I arranged for a colleague who specialises in traffic management to take a look at the areas we discussed.
…
Hall Road speed limit extension – he agreed this was feasible to just before where the footway crosses (as you requested). Estimate for this is £6.5 -£7kSteve White
Highway Engineer
Norfolk County Council
We are now confident that we can achieve this and are going through the formalities necessary for the process to run it’s course.