Highways experts sticking with plan to remove white lines from Telford road

Highways officials at Telford and Wrekin Council have drawn up a traffic calming scheme including chicanes, speed indicators, and a mini roundabout for the B5062 Roden Lane, in Roden.

The scheme is currently out for consultation and Ercall Magna Parish Council heard on Tuesday that highways officials have kept the removal of white lines in place despite a kickback from locals.

Parish clerk Katrina Baker MBE urged members of the public to respond to the consultation before the end of February to get their views across, whatever their views.

“We need to put as much pressure on residents and encourage them to respond to the consultation,” she said.

The parish council has in the meantime kept its powder dry on its view by pushing its discussion on the issues back to February 18 when it plans to discuss the issues.

Chairman, Councillor Kevin Connor said: “We have had very little time to look at it.

“We need to go away and digest it and put it on the agenda for February.

“We need to engage people to get them to get their comments in.

“There seems to be some impetus behind it now.”

After the meeting councillors spoke of opinions in the area being divided and of a ‘vocal minority’ against parts of the scheme. They want to encourage people to respond to get a better picture of local views.

The consultation documents reveal how highways officials have decided to go ahead with the removal of centre and kerbside white lines even after locals have told them that they do not like the idea.

The background reports say that “most respondents disagreed with the revised speed limit gateways and proposed removal of the centre line markings within the 30mph core of the village.

“Taking the above feedback into consideration, the initial proposals have not been fully accepted by the local community and therefore we have revised the proposals in the remainder of the report.”

But they are sticking with the removal of the white lines.

The report adds that studies have shown that such measures have been proven to reduce speeds by up to 5mph.

“Counter-intuitively, but supported by numerous research studies nationally, removal of road centre lines is proven to reduce traffic speeds by 2mph and up to 5mph in some cases.”

The report adds that it would also make Roden Lane “appear more like a village street, rather than a main road dissecting through the middle of the village.

“This should, based on all available evidence locally and nationwide, produce a traffic calming and speed reduction effect without having to resort to more extensive traditional engineering measures and would be in-line with other similar calming schemes in Allscot and Wellington.”

And to reinforce the point, the highways experts add: “The removal of centre line markings has proven elsewhere in the UK to have a downward effect on drivers’ choice of speed, therefore the proposal to remove the road markings will remain within the scheme.”

The officials say they have responded to concerns about speeding from the local community and have put together a package of measures by using £37,548.63 of section 106 money that came from the owners of chicken farm when they received planning permission in 2016.

The scheme covers from 280m east of the village along Roden Lane (B5062) to the Dogs Trust and from along Poynton Road from the junction with Roden Lane (B5062) to approx. 100m northeast of Marlbrook Way.

The scheme does not include speed cameras “ as the road does not meet the criteria for the number of casualties caused by excessive speed”.

The closing date for responses is Friday, February 28, 2025.

Responses can be made via the Telford & Wrekin Council website for Traffic Regulation Orders, where you should look for the links to the Appyway Streets website for the background information.

Introduction – Traffic Regulation Orders (TRO) – Telford & Wrekin Council

Visit the Appyway Streets website for information on Traffic Regulation and Speed Limit Orders.