Convent Corner Design Approved

I understand that the detailed design for the proposed new junction at Convent Corner has now been approved. This has been discussed at length in earlier posts. So it would seem that despite concerns and representations from both St Martins School and the Parish Council only very limited changes have been made to the design.
I for one am very frustrated by the whole process and the failure of the local authority to properly listen to local concerns.

In particular I remain very concerned about sight lines from the proposed pedestrian crossing. I have asked the council for evidence that the crossing meets the relevant national standards. I will post again when I have a response.

Convent Corner Safety Audit

Well the safety audit has been carried out now and Mar City have tweaked the design but this I'm afraid has done little to allay concerns about safety. The key concern remains the proposed crossing which has poor visibility from the north side looking towards Dadlington.

Inexplicably the audit was not taken during morning on afternoon school start / end times and consequently reported "low vehicle flows / speeds (based upon the site visit)". Anybody who has visited at morning or evening rush hours knows this is anything but the case. Surely at least the safety auditors would have access to traffic flow information.

Some safety issues were identified in the report and in response Mar City are proposing the following modifications to the design:
1) There are now 'build outs'/ deflections incorporated into the roundabout. (this is just white paint on the road surface)
2) The roundabout is domed, to force deflection around the roundabout, which slows vehicles.
3) There is now a 'build out'/ tightened junction on the exit from the development, which will slow traffic exiting the site.(again this is just painted)
4) Beige anti-skid surfaces have been incorporated into the approaches.
5) Thermoplastic rumble strips have been incorporated, on the antiskid surface, approaching from Dadlington (this was not called for in the report)

The school have written to Highways expressing their ongoing concerns.

Convent Corner

"Convent Corner"

Local readers will know that Mar City have planning permission for 59 new homes on the old convent site behind Saint Martins school and indeed work has now started. The access arrangements for the new site are to the side of the school just off the road to Dadlington. This access arrangement creates many challenges because of the proximity to the school and also the proximity to the already dangerous T junction between Stoke Road / Hinckley Road - know locally at "Convent Corner". The access plans were approved at planning stage (I raised concerns to no avail). These plans included the provision of a new pedestrian crossing and a mini roundabout.

Convent Corner Proposal

The junction and crossing are less than ideal for many reasons:

• the poor visibility from the inside bend of the proposed pedestrian crossing towards Dadlington. Many school children cross here and speeding traffic is a known issue;
• the sweeping geometry and lack of deflection in the approaches to the mini roundabout which means cars car can travel through the junction at speed - a particular danger to two wheeled vehicles and users of the pedestrian crossing;
• the proximity of the crossing to the new site access and the mini roundabout.

In addition to safety aspects, the design treats the junction as a highway rather than as a residential street and an access to the village. A more imaginative and softer design could send messages to drivers that this is a "place", not a highway which evidence shows would introduce some natural calming.

Convent Corner with "tighter" geometry

Myself, the school and the Parish Council have been making representations to Mars City and Highways in an attempt to come up with an improved design which addresses the safety concerns and also also looks more pleasant. We have made suggestions to "tighten" the junction geometry (to slow cars) - see sketch to left.

We have also suggested the use of different textures / surfaces to create a streetscape more in keeping with a village. Look at before and after pictures of a street in Bath to understand what I mean.

Julian Road, Bath before and after

To me there is a lack of real design thought. It seems they have come up with the cheapest design possible and are not looking for the best solution.Whilst they are listening to us, we have not as yet achieved ANY changes.

The detailed design has now been submitted for Section 278 approval which is a legal agreement to undertake work on the highways. As part of the Section 278 approval an independent safety audit will be undertaken. This will assess the safety of the proposed design. We have made our safety concerns known to Highways and hope that we can achieve some safety improvements through this process.

Watch this space