e-petitions - Provide white lines along the entire length of Edworth Road

Provide white lines along the entire length of Edworth Road

Description:

Install centre white lines and/or edge lines along the entire length of Edworth Road between the A1 and Langford.

Supporting details

The Edworth Road is a busy link road running from the A1, serving the ever expanding villages of Langford and beyond. This unlit national speed limit road had centre lines along its entire length until resurfacing took place in 2016.

Over the last seven years, Central Bedfordshire Council (CBC) has given several reasons for not white lining the entire stretch of road. The most recent reason they have given was that they are following the Department for Transport’s Traffic Signs Manual, Chapter 5 for advice. The advice in section 2.2.6 states that on rural roads under 5.5m in width centre lines should be omitted as “as drivers might also expect roads marked with a centre line to be wide enough for opposing vehicles to pass”.

Edworth Road is wide enough for opposing lanes of traffic to pass and is over 6m wide, so the advice is not relevant to this road.

The introduction to the Traffic Signs Manual, Chapter 5 states that “centre lines, edge lines and lane lines help drivers to maintain their lateral position on the road” and “on unlit roads at night, conditions are very different; the visual stimuli in the distance and to the sides of the road are largely absent. Road markings then become the most important aid in enabling the driver to follow the road.

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