What this consultation is about
Proposed road safety improvements to the A5004 between Buxton and Whaley Bridge.
Working together with the Department of Transport, we have developed new proposals to improve road safety along the 7½ mile stretch of the A5004 between Buxton and Whaley Bridge.
Money for the improvements, worth around £2.5 million, has come from the Department for Transport's Safer Roads Fund (SRF) to improve safety along the 50 most dangerous roads in the country.
The proposals include the following safety improvements:
- speed management review, and subject to consultation, the installation of average speed cameras along sections of the route with 50mph and 40mph speed limits between Buxton and Whaley Bridge to tackle inappropriate speeding and reduce accidents.
- improving the A5004 junction with the A53 in Buxton
- hatching, white lining and rumble strips along the edge of the road to alert drivers to hazards and to prevent people driving off the road
- improving visibility around bends and at junctions by removing bushes or lowering walls
- improving drainage to reduce surface water at key points along the route
- installing crash barriers on major bends with motorcycle protection to prevent riders sliding underneath the barrier
- new pedestrian crossing points on the outskirts of Whaley Bridge to make it safer to walk into the town centre with dropped kerbs and tactile paving slabs to help vulnerable users
- cycling improvements between Buxton and Whaley Bridge to link the area to the county’s cycle network
- better signing, and lining to highlight hazards like bends, footpath crossing points and junctions
The speed management review / average speed camera proposals are shown on drawing number PC-E-19-0011-100-018 Titled Speed Management Review - proposed average speed camera locations. Alternative colours for proposed average speed camera columns are shown on drawing Number PC-E-19-0011-100-019. All other Safety Improvements are described on the drawings 'A5004 Long Hill SRF consultation layouts (sheets 1 to 17)'.
Over 260 sections of UK road are monitored by permanent SPECS average speed enforcement cameras. Whenever these cameras have been installed as a casualty reduction measure, the number of collisions resulting in death or serious injury (KSI) typically drops by > 50%, and personal injury collisions (PIC) drop by on average 50%. Installations have taken place on 20mph, 30mph, 40mph, 50mph, 60mph and national speed limit roads, with driver behaviour being modified on every road type.
Works on site will not commence until the consultation feedback has been carefully assessed and following the completion of Railtrack's bridge repairs at Buxton Road.
Community engagement events
To support the online public consultation, 2 drop-in sessions will be held at venues in Buxton and Whaley Bridge, with highway and road safety staff available to answer questions:
- Tuesday 6 December 2022 from 2.30 pm to 8.30 pm at the Pump Room, The Crescent Buxton SK17 6BH
- Thursday 15 December 2022 from 2.30 pm to 8.30 pm at the Mechanics Institute, 27 Market Street, Whaley Bridge, SK23 7AA