Summary
Following extensive consultations on how we can improve road safety in Beech, Beech Parish Council is pleased to announce that Hampshire County Council (HCC) have completed their safety audits and committed to implement an on-road footway scheme through Beech later this year.
- Our consultation with the village in 2021 on Beech Road safety concluded that there was strong support (85%) for the proposed on-road footways in the Village Centre and on Kings Hill, so long as they can be designed to be a safe option in conjunction with HCC.
- We now have agreement from HCC to deploy the on-road footway and they have successfully completed the safety audit of the design and committed to the ongoing maintenance.
- The work is likely to be undertaken by HCC through later Summer / Autumn and we will post more information as and when we receive it, on our website.
Latest news:
- The final section of white lining along Bushy Leaze woods is now scheduled for 25-26th November
This is the summary of the design, please see below for more details:
Why are we doing this?
Safety of pedestrians through the village has been a major concern for our community.
In 2019 Beech Parish council launched an initiative, led by the Beech Road Safety Working Group (BRSWG) to look at improving the safety and confidence of pedestrians in Beech and thereby encouraging social interaction and creating a healthier environment for all Beech Residents.
- Many residents are discouraged from walking in the village due to the lack of pavements and the difficulty of having to share the narrow country roads with motor vehicles.
- The main complaint from pedestrians is that drivers fail to slow down for pedestrians, pull out too late or pass too close, which leaves the pedestrian with the unpleasant feeling that they might be hit at any moment.
- The roads are too narrow for a normal raised pavement and in most places, there is no room to build a new pavement next to the road. Many other methods used elsewhere for safeguarding pedestrians or influencing driver behaviour are precluded by Hampshire County Council (HCC) on the grounds of future cost or are not permitted on roads of this type under current legislation.
- Consequently, a plan was proposed consisting of a mixture of on-road low-level footways and off-road woodland paths and was put to the residents in a consultation exercise in 2021 and overwhelmingly endorsed by the residents.
- The summary and detail of the results of the consultation are available here: 2021 New Footways Consultation
What is the on-road footway?
The detailed design includes:
- Changes to signage
- Removal of some signs
- Implementation of on-road footway:
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The on-road footway is a 1.2 m wide on-road “pedestrian priority” footway marked with white lines, combined with standard ‘pedestrians in the road’ pictorial warning signs and our own Pedestrian Footway warning signs featuring the familiar walking ‘stick man’ logo.
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- Provision for BPC to mount their own posters and SLR/SID devices.
The purpose of the road markings and accompanying signs is to guide pedestrians onto a designated route and to encourage drivers to be more aware of pedestrians and to provide a visual reminder that drivers should expect to encounter people in the road.
To avoid any confusion, drivers can drive on the pedestrian footway if necessary, for example to make room for vehicles coming the other way, or to gain a better view of the road ahead, always assuming that there are no pedestrians on the path.
For more detailed information please see these downloadable documents:
| Hampshire County Council detail design | |
| Detail design with annotations | On-road footways are marked in red |
When will this happen?
The detailed design and safety audit have already been completed.
The work by the Hampshire Country Council contractor is in process. Heavy rains have interrupted the white lining work and this being rescheduled.
The final section of white lining along Bushy Leaze woods is now scheduled for the 25-26th November.
New signs designating ‘Predestrain priority’ are on order.
Who will pay?
HCC will undertake much of the work and most importantly the subsequent maintence at their cost. The Beech Parish contribution to the cost of the work is being funded by East Hants District Council (EHDC) Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL).
What next?
The council has set out its Objectives for 2023 – 2024 and these include a number of items focussed on improving road safety through Beech:
- To continue operating the village’s AutoSpeedWatch camera system and to obtain its approval by Hampshire Constabulary for speeding enforcement in the manner of Community SpeedWatch.
- Pursue with HCC a 20mph zone in Beech if and when HCC policy permits.
- To complete the full design of new footways the full length of Medstead Road and Kings Hill, and to have completed, as a minimum, all planned new on-road footway construction.
- To fund expenditure on new footway schemes, speed camera initiatives, speed indicator devices and footpath/bridleway improvements from (i) CIL & S106 monies received from EHDC; and (ii) grant monies from other external sources, augmented where necessary by funds from the parish council’s reserves earmarked for road safety measures.