WESTBURY Town Council has requested for the speed limit on the A350 on Warminster Road approaching Westbury to be reduced from 60mph to 40mph, to make the area safer for motorists turning out of the Old Dilton Road and Wellhead Drove junctions.
Currently, the A350 Warminster Road into Westbury is 60mph until just before the Old Dilton junction where it is 30mph. The suggestion could see the speed limit reduced from 60mph, near the layby/Madbrook Farm on the A350, to 40mph on approaching Westbury.
The farmer of Madbrook Farm on Warminster Road, along with residents of Wellhead Drove, previously approached the town council in the summer to request for the speed limit to be reduced as they say that the crossroads are difficult to pull out from for motorists due to speeding vehicles.
This request was taken to Wiltshire Council’s local highway and footway improvement group (LHFIG), which decided not to take the request further as a previous assessment was taken in 2009. Wiltshire Council says they “were not aware of any substantial changes to the surrounding environment since this time”, therefore there was the potential for the review to have the same outcome.
Cllr Gordon King has now requested for this to be reconsidered “due to the size of the complaint” from residents and an increase in speeding vehicles in the area.
Speaking at a meeting of the town council’s highways, planning and development committee, he said, “As of last month, traffic figures show that the vast majority of vehicles coming into Chalford in Westbury are doing much more than 40mph.
“This demonstrates that an ordered and correct speed transition from Madbrook Farm (on Warminster Road) should be put in place to improve road safety. This is a dangerous road with dangerous conditions and it was wrong for LHFIG to come to its previous decision to not proceed with the speed assessment.”
Cllr Phillip Harcourt added, “I spoke to someone who works in the music shop in that area, who catches the train and walks to work from the station – he says that he takes his life in his hands when he commutes as there is no footpath, so he has to walk on the road while combatting the speeding vehicles. This is even more of a reason as to why we should try and get the speed reduced to 40mph before the music shop.”
Councillors agreed to ask LHFIG to reconsider the earlier application for a speed assessment for the area.
