THE speed of traffic travelling along Warminster Road and Bratton Road is not excessive, town councillors have been told. However, the town is going to back calls from the police for more 30mph signs on the A350 between Chalford and Aldi.
At a recent meeting of Westbury Town Council’s highways, planning and development meeting members heard recorded speeds on Warminster Road had not met criteria to warrant an action to be taken.
The chair, cllr Ian Cunningham, explained that the 85th percentile speed – the speed at or below which 85% of the traffic is travelling and is used nationally as a criteria for Community Speed Watch interventions – was 30.3mph.
“In a 30mph zone, Community Speedwatch chips in at 35.1mph and over 42mph, the police will come and enforce, so it didn’t trigger that,” he said.
The same was true of Bratton Road where the 85th percentile speed was 29.3mph.
“We’re not saying there’s not a problem, but that was the result of the survey,” he said.
However, at the same meeting, councillors heard that following complaints from residents about speeding traffic, including HGVs on the A350, particularly from The Chalford House Hotel to Aldi, Wiltshire constabulary had asked for additional signage to remind drivers of the speed limit.
A report to members said, “Currently there are a few signs along the whole stretch from Chalford through the town centre.
“If the committee supports this, the issue will be referred to Catg [Wiltshire’s community area transport group] for consideration.”
Members of the committee unanimously voted to send the suggestion to Wiltshire Council for consideration.
Local resident, Helen Aylesbury told White Horse News, “I live on Warminster Road and the speeding vehicles has become outrageous. I’ve complained to the council to be told they don’t deal with that kind of complaint even though the same person put the original complaint to ‘the relevant department.’
“We have a diverse age range living here. Some of us have pets. I understand it’s a busy road but since traffic was diverted because of the Cleveland Bridge works in Bath, we have seen more speeding vehicles.
“Since the Covid outbreak the amount of police cars patrolling the road has fallen. [Speeding is] dangerous and the noise it generates is disgusting. They seem to pick up speed from the Haynes Road roundabout and can reach serious speed up the hill and vice-versa coming from Warminster.
“The weather conditions are worsening and now I fear for what may happen. What will it take?”
