Petition - Safe Pedestrian crossing for Worthy Road

Thank you, and your fellow speakers, for your deputation to the County Council and the submission of your petition on 29 November 2018 for four pedestrian crossings on B3047 Worthy Road, Winchester. Your request to relocate the bus stop (or stops) on Worthy Road near Park Road is noted.

As you may be aware from previous replies, controlled pedestrian crossings are provided at locations with the greatest need and are determined through consistent assessment methodology to ensure that crossings are only provided where the degree of difficulty for pedestrians is such that they would not generally cross without waiting for the crossing to operate. They have an important role in promoting safety, accessibility and convenience, but are expensive to install, operate and maintain and can also increase delay for other road users.

A 12-hour PV² survey of the busiest crossing points on Worthy Road, near Arthur Road and Hyde Street, was conducted on Thursday 22 March 2018. The average PV² figure for the four busiest hours was 0.31x10⁸. I note Mr Slinn’s comments regarding the use of the numerical assessment PV², but taking into account vulnerable users (children, elderly pedestrians, users with mobility problems) and other site factors such as the speed of traffic, the width of carriageway and the occurrence of personal injury accidents over the previous five years (there were none), a modified value of 0.56x10⁸ has been produced. This falls someway short of the required value. Although this was carried out at a time when temporary traffic signals were operating locally, comparison with data from fixed traffic counters showed that this had no impact on traffic volumes. These data also demonstrate that mean speeds are within the 30-m.p.h. limit. The PV² value indicates the pedestrian island refuges currently in place are the appropriate solution and that a controlled crossing, such as a Zebra is not justified here on pedestrian/vehicle conflict, or on road safety grounds.

In addition to this petition, the County Council has also received requests for better crossing facilities on Worthy Road near Park Road and Stoke Road. In common with the petitioners’ request, initial assessments conducted here a few years ago indicated there were insufficient pedestrians crossing to take it any further. However, the proximity of these requests suggests it may be necessary to take a holistic view of B3045 Worthy Lane and B3047 Worthy Road and suggests a need to review the balance of priority between traffic and pedestrians. This specific issue is raised in the Winchester Movement Strategy consultation document.

An outcome of the Movement Strategy, subject to consultation, is likely to be a reappraisal of the function of the Worthy Road corridor that will lead to improvement of the pedestrian environment. We have therefore included a study of this route in our draft 2019/20 programme, which will make recommendations that will contribute to implementation of the Movement Strategy. At these locations it may be that an informal crossing point might also perform a gateway function delineating a change in driving environment. A key study objective will be to identify improvements that can be delivered in the short-term.

Yours sincerely

Councillor Rob Humby
Executive Member for Environment and Transport