Comments on: Traffic in Coton

By: Delyth

Delyth — Thu, 07 Apr 2011 13:58:33 +0000

As a parent of children at Coton School (and ex-biker) I feel the need to point out that the typical stopping distance of a vehicle traveling at 40mph is 24m just for the vehicle itself. The government suggest a thinking distance of 12m on top of that. Even if you have the reaction speeds of a fighter pilot, you would not be able to stop short of a child who wandered or fell onto the road. With cars frequently parked along one side of the road and pedestrians on the pavement, swerving to avoid hitting someone may not be possible.
I think Madingley and Girton are on the right track with their 20mph signs that light up at appropriate times.
I agree with Helen that something does need to be done on Brook Lane – crossing that road onto the Countryside Reserve from the footpath is a bit hairy.

By: Robert Asher

Robert Asher — Wed, 06 Apr 2011 18:58:08 +0000

Dear Sara, as a relatively young resident of Coton I really appreciate the effort you and others have put into the survey & overview on issues regarding traffic. I completely agree that reckless driving and speeding in/near our village is a problem and your efforts will help to improve things.
Gratefully, Robert

By: sara

sara — Wed, 06 Apr 2011 09:19:29 +0000

This thread is getting a bit off topic.

It is difficult to second-guess the views of people who did not respond. I think the response rate was very good for a survey of this kind, and it looks to me like a very well conducted survey. I’m sure it would have taken a lot of effort – and it’s the best information we have at the moment on the views of residents.

Traffic was in 2005 (according to the report published in 2007), and is now, a concern of many people. There could be another survey, perhaps, to give a more up to date comprehensive view.

I mentioned the census data only to give a baseline.

By: DFTOcelot

DFTOcelot — Wed, 06 Apr 2011 08:00:49 +0000

Just to clarify, if you do the maths that 234 (70%) of questionnaires were returned and that only 60% of those claimed there was problems with traffic in coton then that works out to 140.4 questionnaires state there is a problem and it doesnt take a genius to see that that is less then half of the total households, not including mine of course which never recieved one.
Also just to point out even more flaws in your statement, how can you base the figures on the census from 2001 when according to you it was done in 2005 and the newsletter said it was done in 2007, I cant be 100% sure but werent there just a couple more houses in coton in 05/07.

By: sara

sara — Tue, 05 Apr 2011 21:07:30 +0000

The results of the three recent traffic monitoring surveys can be found at http://www.cambs.police.uk/roadsafety/speed_surveys/survey_results.asp. Search on Coton within the page if you’re interested.

By: Sara Godward

Sara Godward — Tue, 05 Apr 2011 13:33:57 +0000

The report says that 327 questionnaires were distributed and 234 (70%) were returned. According to the census, there were 322 households in Coton in 2001.

By: DFTOcelot

DFTOcelot — Mon, 04 Apr 2011 16:41:05 +0000

In response to the last comment i would like to inform you that i have lived in coton for 20 years so obviously the questionnaire wasnt delivered to EVERY household and i would like to know how many or what percentage of questionnaires delivered got filled out and returned.

By: Sara Godward

Sara Godward — Thu, 31 Mar 2011 17:21:57 +0000

Thank you for responding to the traffic issue in Coton. This is the time to share your thoughts and get involved in the discussion so please encourage other people to get involved as well.

I understand your points about driving safely and according to road conditions. Apart from breaking the law, however, and avoiding the potential for accidents, the noise of speeding traffic can be stressful to people who live nearby, and near misses or fast vehicles travelling close to pedestrians (even safely) can be stressful and upsetting.

On a point of accuracy: the Coton Parish Plan was published in 2007 but the data were collected in 2005. Questionnaires were delivered to every household in Coton but you may not have lived in Coton at that time. According to the final report, which was delivered to all households in Coton, 60% felt that Coton had a traffic problem.

I wasn’t involved with the village survey but I kept my copy of the final report that was put through my door, probably some time in 2007. If you give me your name and address, I can send you a copy if you would like to see it.

Sara

By: DFTOcelot

DFTOcelot — Sun, 27 Mar 2011 10:58:52 +0000

What an incredible waste of time and money it is to install any of the methods of speed reduction previously mentioned. the question has been asked, how many accidents has there been in the last x amount of years in coton NOT madingley road or near the barton roundabout out the other side of the village because as far as i can remember ive never heard of any serious accidents i the village. I myself ride a motorbike and have had numerous amounts of close calls and near misses luckily never a serious accident but out of those incidents only about 10% were due to myself not paying full attention so i pose the question; if one of the many elderly members of the village is driving down the road at 15/20mph and a baby crawls out in front of the car and gets run down because the elderly person has slower reactions and limited eyesight and/or hearing would counter speed measures even be considered. On the other hand in the same situations but with a younger driver and travelling at say 40/50 mph it is my personal opinion that the younger driver is more likely to either swerve out of the way or slam on the brakes, either way not causing an accident but still counter speed measures would be put in place just because of the fact the driver was technically going too fast, the moral of my short story is that it is not how fast someone is going but rather their driving ability on a whole, by all means im not saying its ok to drive at 150mph past the school but if people drive over the 30 limit and dont cause any acccidents then maybe you should stop and think to yourself that these individuals just have a better driving ability than you.
Now i would just like to say thank you to anyone who has actually read through my entire comment as i know that it has gotten quite lengthy. There is just one more question i feel i need to ask on behalf of the community and it is that the first line of the newsletter states that “in 2007, 60% of the residents feel that coton has a traffic problem” i would just like to state that myself and my family never answered a questionnaire or got asked by any member of the community news about the issue so how are these figures accurate in any way, shape or form. In fact the people asked were most likely the elderly members of the village that just want to moan about whatever they can, so unless the whole village is going to be asked about something next time then i suggest not including false figures and statistics in the newsletter or website.

By: Sara Godward

Sara Godward — Wed, 02 Feb 2011 20:22:37 +0000

Dear Helen

Thank you for putting your thoughts up on the website. Traffic problems were the most common complaint among Coton villagers in the Coton Parish survey, but in order to make a case to the Parish council to fund any improvements, I think we need more views from residents on the precise nature of the problems, and on whether the collective view is that the village should commit funds to address them.

I’m told by the County Council that the effectiveness of the recent electronic speed signs in Granchester will be reviewed and the results of that study will affect whether we are permitted to have them in Coton. Of course, if they’re found not to be effective, we wouldn’t want them anyway. I understand that the current prevailing view is that they work for a while.

Other residents have expressed concerns about speeding on Brook Lane. This problem could potentially be addressed by the sort of physical deterrent such as a chicane or road narrowing (with accommodation for cyclists). Do you think there is support for this among villagers – the cost would have to be met by the village – and I think would be around £5000.

The last I heard was that the County Council considered the Madlingely Road junction a priority area and was likely to propose a roundabout here. However, I’ve not heard the position on this since the recent budget cuts.

Please encourage your neighbours to put forward their thoughts on traffic in Coton, either through this website, to me directly, or to the Parish Council. And of course, please share any further thoughts you have, either through this website, to me directly, or to the Council.

regards

Sara