Speed enforcement continuing on St Martins Road in Gobowen

The Safer Roads Partnership in West Mercia is continuing to carry out speed enforcement on St Martins Road in Gobowen in a bid to further reduce the speed of vehicles travelling along the route.  

The speed enforcement site launched in October 2011 as part of the Safer Roads Partnership’s Community Concern programme, which responds to community requests for speed enforcement.  When the site launched there was a significant speed compliance problem, and 15% of vehicles were travelling above 38.4mph along the 30mph road. Although speeds have reduced slightly, there is still a compliance issue – particularly with vehicles travelling towards St Martins. 

Anna Higgins, Communications Manager at the Safer Roads Partnership, said:

“Community concern sites are set up for an initial period of six months.  We then carry out further analysis to see what’s happened.  If speeds have reduced, we come out of the area. If not, we will stay there.  In Gobowen, 15% of drivers travelling towards St Martins are still exceeding 36.8mph, and data suggests that almost 80% of offenders are from  Shropshire.  We will continue to target this road with our speed enforcement vehicles in a bid to bring speeds down even further, as we have done in other areas, which will improve the safety of the road for all those who use it.” 

Simon Jones, Shropshire Council’s Cabinet member responsible for road safety, said:

“I hope that this mobile enforcement site will encourage people to slow down.  It’s important that drivers observe the speed limits to keep themselves and others safe, and to consider the effect speeding has on the quality of life for the communities they drive through.” 

David Lloyd, a local Shropshire Councillor for Gobowen, Selattyn and Weston Rhyn, said:

“Residents, especially parents, will welcome the extension to this speed enforcement site, as it is close to a major unmanned crossing point between large housing estates on one side and Gobowen Primary School on the other.  There has been a perceptible improvement in driver behaviour on this busy route into the village, but too many drivers are still failing to heed the well-signed speed limit.” 

The Safer Roads Partnership in West Mercia is part of West Mercia Police and works in partnership with nine partner agencies to reduce casualties and make the roads safer for all users in West Mercia through targeted communication, education and training together with enforcement.