Following residents’ concerns about traffic speed in the very narrow Westfield Place, I asked the City Council what could be done to alleviate the problem. I reproduce the response below and am pleased to note the suggested provision of “SLOW” markings on the north carriageway :
“The site has been investigated. There is no recorded injury accident record over the last 3 years. There have been 2 damage only accidents, one caused by a vehicle travelling in the wrong direction and the other caused by a motorist hitting a gate post when coming out of a driveway.
I agree that it may be perceived inappropriate speeds due to the lack of visibility at the numerous driveways / accesses with the high walls and narrow footways.
“The width of the road varies from north to south between 2.7 metres and 2.0 metres. [I can understand why vehicle speeds were lower when the road was two-way (and I would guess that there would have been quite a lot of reversing)]. The footways are too narrow to consider any signing.
“The carriageway surface is cobbles which do not offer high skid resistance and also offer poor adhesion for line marking.
“However, with the long straight giving the wrong message to some drivers as they enter from Perth Road, and in view of the high number of driveways, it is proposed to provide 'SLOW' markings on the carriageway on the northern section (the southern section is too narrow to accommodate slow markings). The lining will be added to the list for next financial year.”