'High risk' road to get lower speed limit
A "high risk" road in Surrey is to get a lower speed limit
- Published
Lower speed limits along a stretch of road with "a history of collisions" are to come into force, a council has agreed.
Restrictions on the A217 between Sutton and Banstead will start early next year after a petition calling for greater safety measures was submitted to Surrey County Council.
The dual carriageway currently has a speed limit of 60mph which petition papers said was “often abused”.
Surrey County Council said money was budgeted for the new measures and would be introduced and evaluated in the 2023/24 financial year.
Petition papers said the current speed limit had led to "severe accidents" on the particular stretch, "most of which could have been avoided if there was an imposed limit of 40mph".
According to website CrashMap, junctions at either end of the road are particular hotspots.
In March, a woman died in hospital three weeks after a crash involving two cars along the A217.
Ram Nandula, who led efforts for the lower speed limit, addressed the cabinet meeting on Tuesday.
He said: “We’ve seen how dangerous the road is because of the change over from 40 to 60 and then back to 40. As people hit the road they start racing with each other on both lanes.
“It’s a high risk road, and it’s not safe for pedestrians or cyclists.”
The petition said there is "no valid reason" why there is a 60mph speed limit when the rest of the road is 40mph
Cllr Kevin Deanus, cabinet member for highways and community resilience, said a 60mph dual carriageway is "not a nice place for a pedestrian to cross the road.”
He said, long term, the council was minded to introduce a signalled crossing and speed data collected along the road backed up the need for tighter controls there.
Cllr Deanus added: “Once implemented, we will undertake similar speed surveys to check on the success of the scheme and compliance with the new speed limit.
"This will inform on the need for any additional measures to manage speeds successfully on this stretch.”
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