Rotherham: 'Racetrack' road does not meet 'speed camera threshold'

Department for Transport criteria said other solutions should be explored before average speed cameras were considered

A road previously described as a "racetrack" following a series of collisions will not have speed cameras installed on it.

Kingsforth Lane in Rotherham was the subject of a petition asking for new safety measures.

The council lowered the speed limit, resurfaced some parts of the road and added reflective marker posts.

But a report found the route did not meet the "required threshold for the installation of average speed cameras".

Councillor Simon Ball told Rotherham Council earlier this year the road was a "racetrack between the villages", adding that there had been eight collisions resulting in two deaths, four serious injuries and eight slight injuries, "all in a short period of time".

The Local Democracy Reporting Service said Mr Ball had urged the council to "go further" with safety measures, after it reduced the speed limit from 60mph (96km/h) to 50mph (80km/h).

Based on speed data Kingsforth Lane did not meet the required threshold for installation of speed cameras, a council committee concluded

The council agreed to investigate the viability of average speed cameras along the road and in February 2022 conducted a speed survey which monitored the speed of vehicles on three parts of the road.

The speed limit at the time was 60mph and the survey found 125 vehicles were recorded travelling at above 70mph (112km/h).

A further speed survey was undertaken in November, after the speed limit was reduced to 50mph.

In that survey five vehicles were found to be travelling over 70mph.

A report to the council stated that the new measures would be assessed for the next 12 months to assess their effectiveness.

A reassessment would then take place if there was "poor compliance of the speed limit with associated road traffic collisions," it said.