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.

council approval

3rd March – Due
Diligence completed
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Parish Council approve purchase

funding

23rd June – All funding now in place
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Order placed with NCC Highways

police & highways

Police approval confirmed
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Confirmed with Highways

planning

14th Sept – Highways advised us that the statutory consultation is complete
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Next step is to instruct NPLaw

legal

17th March – Highways confirmed that TRO has been processed
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Awaiting outcome of advertising for objections

completion

27th May – Signs installed
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Hall Lane Speed limit
initiative complete

we’ve done it…
when so many said we couldn’t…

we got it done!

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.

Funding in place… we’re off….

Now that the necessary funding is in place we have been able to instruct Highways to go ahead with the 30mph extension to Hall Lane.

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

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Our Aim
Our aim is to get the 30mph speed limit extended from opposite MADRA, where it is now, to the Butterfly Walk car park, in order to dramatically reduce the number of incidents caused by drivers reacting at the last minute and the consequent risk to our residents.

a thought…
The main road between Coggeshall to Norwich has a lower speed limit than Hall Lane, is around twice the width, has no 90˚bends and no hedges or verges to obscure drivers vision.   And much of it has a pavement.

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 -£7k

Steve 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.