Thank you for your interest in this story

To continue reading this article, subscribe to the Stray Ferret for as little as £1 a week

Already a subscriber? Log in here.

Feb 2021

Last Updated: 01/03/2021

Transport

Ripon councillors request 14 speed sign sites

by Tim Flanagan

| 26 Feb, 2021

New housing developments are increasing traffic on Ripon's roads. City councillors have drawn up a list of 14 sites where they would like to see mobile speed signs.

ripon-23rd-dec-2020-residents-of-kirkby-road-2

Ripon City Council has asked North Yorkshire County Council to approve its request for 14 vehicle activated speed signs.

The county council, which is the highways authority, has the ultimate say over where the signs can be placed.

It has indicated it will approve use of the signs, which are intended to encourage drivers to obey speed restrictions rather than punish them, on no more than eight Ripon streets.

But Ripon councillors have identified 14 hotspots for the traffic-calming measure and hope they will all be approved.

The signs show drivers their speed and whether they are going too fast. The cost of adapting each lamp post to include a sign is £500 plus VAT.

Paula Benson, clerk to Ripon City Council, told February's full council meeting the county council had said it was prepared to approve the use of the signs on no more than eight Ripon streets.

Councillors voted unanimously to call on the county council to approve more locations.

They also said that if additional money was required for signs and installation it should come from the city council.

City, Harrogate district and county councillor, Stuart Martin, said:

"Members of the public have told us where these signs are needed.

"We should stick with the locations that have been identified and requested."

Council leader Andrew Williams added:

"Ripon is not a small village, it's a growing city with more traffic and therefore increased risk to pedestrians."

Because the signs are mobile, they can be moved around the city and put in selected traffic hotspots for a few weeks at a time.

Councillor Pauline McHardy, said:

"It's a way of educating motorists driving in different parts of Ripon, by making them aware of their speed."

Among the locations on the city council list is Kirkby Road, where residents have likened a 300-metre stretch with no white lines to a 'race track'.

Ripon residents say their road is 'like a racetrack'

Rising death toll on North Yorkshire's roads

Across the city, Whitcliffe Lane has also been put forward as a street in need of a speed sign.

The lane is alongside a new housing development at the former Ripon Cathedral Choir School site, which has increased traffic.

This situation is being repeated in other parts of Ripon, where new housing schemes are coming on stream.

Thank you for your interest in this story

Ripon councillors request 14 speed sign sites

Read more: