Traffic Speed Statistics
Information Sharing Information Security (ISIS)
Freedom of Information Act Request
Dear Essex County Council,
Please supply MS-Excel files showing the speed loop data collected in the last year for the High Road Benfleet (B1006) at its junction with Chestnut Grove.
Please use electronic means to send the data.
With kind regards
R N Hilton
Dear Mr Hilton
Please find attached an acknowledgement of receipt of your recent request for information.
Yours sincerely
Your Right to Know
Information Services
Essex County Council
Telephone: 08457 430430
Email: [email address] | www.essex.gov.uk
Dear R N Hilton
Thank you for your request of 27^th July. I am pleased to provide the
attached information which I believe satisfies your request.
With reference your request for data associated with the B1106 at
Benfleet, please note the site has not been operational since January
2012, so we do not hold any more recent data.
You may reuse all or part of his information free of charge in any format
or medium. You must reuse it accurately and not in a misleading context
Please contact me if you would like further advice or assistance about
your request or your right to access information held by Essex County
Council.
If you are not satisfied with my response to your request, please let me
know. If I am unable to resolve the issue immediately, I will explain our
complaints procedure.
If, after following our complaints procedure, you are still not satisfied,
you are entitled to ask the Information Commissioner to review our
decision. You can contact him at Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow,
Cheshire, SK9 5AF, telephone 01625 545700.
Regards
Mark
Mark Ralling
Assistant Business Services Partner
Business Services & Strategy
Environment, Sustainability & Highways
Essex County Council
Telephone: 01245 437017, Extension: 51017
Email: [1][email address]
EssexWorks For a better quality of life
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Dear Mark Ralling Assistant Business Services Partner - ESH,
Dear Mark
Why is this data so old (2011) and why is the equipment that monitors it not operational. Will Essex CC rectify this. My view is that speeds on this stretch of road far exceed the limits. This has been lessened by the sadlers farm junction work which has caused traffic jams along the B1106 thus lowering speed averages. Now that work is nearing completion I suspect that speeds will now increase dramatically on the B1106. As such I think it is very important that your equipment is functioning correctly to monitor a stretch of road that has two schools, pedestrian crossings and numerous junctions along it.
Yours sincerely,
R N Hilton
Dear Essex County Council,
Please pass this on to the person who conducts Freedom of Information reviews.
I am writing to request an internal review of Essex County Council's handling of my FOI request 'Traffic Speed Statistics'.
You have not responded to my request as to why the equipment to monitor traffic speed on the High Road, Benfleet from the Tarpots junction southwards, is in your words 'no longer operational'
A full history of my FOI request and all correspondence is available on the Internet at this address:
http://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/tr...
Yours faithfully,
R N Hilton
Dear Mr Hilton
Please find attached an acknowledgment of receipt of your recent request to review our actions with regard to your initial Freedom of Information request
Yours sincerely
Your Right to Know
Phone: 08457 430430
[email address]
Information Services
Essex County Council
Dear RN Hilton,
Thank you for your email of 26^th September where you requested an
internal review be carried out regarding your Freedom of Information
Request about traffic speed statistics for High Road, Benfleet.
I have now conducted a review into your request and the information
provided to you.
I can confirm that you were provided with the most accurate and up to date
information which was available to satisfy your request. The response also
highlighted that unfortunately since January 2012 the site has not been
operational, therefore more recent data was not available.
However, I also acknowledge that subsequent to receiving this information
you requested further information as to why the equipment is no longer
operational and whether this would be rectified, and this had not been
responded to.
I have discussed this with colleagues to determine why this information
had not been provided and in doing so it has been realised that this is
simply due to technical difficulties. A response was drafted and sent
across to the team who would send the response onto you, however this
email did not reach the intended recipient and it has only been in
undertaking this review that we have realised this.
I would like to apologise for the delay in providing you with a response
and to also take this opportunity to provide you with a response to your
query.
I can confirm that the site was only a ‘temporary’ site, which is common
across the county and hence the reason no data is available post 2011.
There are no proposals at this stage to reinstall a counter at this
location on a permanent basis. It is normal practice that where/if a
problem is identified, then Essex County Council officers will investigate
this and commission the temporary location of a traffic counter to assess
the problem. If you consider that there is currently a problem in this
location that requires such an investigation we would be happy to consider
the merits of commissioning this work accordingly.
Once again, I would like to apologise on behalf of the County Council for
the delay in providing you with this information and I hope that this now
satisfies your request.
If you are not satisfied with my response to your request for an internal
review, please let me know. If I am unable to resolve the issue
immediately, I will explain our complaints procedure.
If, after following our complaints procedure, you are still not satisfied,
you are entitled to ask the Information Commissioner to review our
decision. You can contact him at Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow,
Cheshire, SK9 5AF, telephone 01625 545700.
Kind regards,
Hannah
Hannah Neve
Principal Area Transportation Co-ordinator | Chelmsford, Heart of Essex
Transportation Planning | Highways and Transportation | Environment,
Sustainability & Highways
Essex County Council, County Hall, Chelmsford, Essex, CM1 1QH
Telephone: 01245 437106 | Extension: 51106 | Mobile: 07584580501 | Email:
[1][email address].uk
P Please consider the environment before printing this e-mail
Dear Mark Ralling Assistant Business Services Partner - ESH,
Dear Mark
Thanks for the reply from Hannah Neve. She speaks of the site being temporary. My understanding is that there is a control box (about 3'x3'x1') outside my property which is solar powered. The road has been drilled and circuitry layed into it and then tarmaced over. I believe this is part of the traffic counting and speed monitoring that is 'temporary' and not in use. I am interested in what you derived from the statistics. Certainly from what I have seen, it shows the majority of the traffic exceeds the 30mph speed limit. This on a stretch of road that contains an infants and junior school and many road junctions. Do you have any plans to reintroduce this site and/or put in equipment to control speed ie Speed cameras or speed indicators etc
Yours sincerely,
R N Hilton
Dear Mr Hilton,
Thank you for your response dated 13^th November; your request has been
discussed with the Highway Liaison Officer for this area and it has been
agreed that this issue will be looked at specifically as an issue i.e.
speed of traffic and the nearby schools. This will go the next Local
Highway Panel for agreement to fund the necessary investigation work.
Regards
Mark Ralling
Assistant Business Services Partner
Business Services & Strategy
Environment, Sustainability & Highways
Essex County Council
Telephone: 01245 437609, Extension: 51609
Email: [1][email address]
Dear Mark Ralling Assistant Business Services Partner - ESH,
When or has the Local Highway Panel met and if so what was the outcome?
Yours sincerely,
R N Hilton
Dear Essex County Council,
Please pass this on to the person who conducts Freedom of Information reviews.
I am writing to request an internal review of Essex County Council's handling of my FOI request 'Traffic Speed Statistics'.
I was led to believe in November 2012 that my issue has been discussed with the local Highway Liaison Officer and that it was to be discussed at the next Local Highway Panel for agreement to fund the investigation work.
Despite asking for an update of the situation on January 9 2013, I have heard nothing.
A full history of my FOI request and all correspondence is available on the Internet at this address:
http://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/tr...
Yours faithfully,
R N Hilton
Dear Mr Hilton,
Please accept our apologies for the lack of response to your enquiry
regarding vehicle speeds in Benfleet High Road.
This matter was discussed at the LHP meeting on 6th December. However,
the Panel agreed that before they can make a recommendation to fund survey
works, further information is required to support the request.
Therefore, the Panel agreed that Cllr Skipp would make additional
enquiries with you as all requests must be considered and have the support
of the local councillor. Unfortunately, due to an oversight you were not
informed of this course of action, for which we are sorry.
To expedite matters you may wish to contact Cllr Skipp directly on 01268
565 732 to provide further information in relation to your request.
Yours sincerely
Mark
Mark Ralling
Assistant Business Services Partner
Business Services & Strategy
Environment, Sustainability & Highways
Dear Mr Hilton
I have been asked to contact you regarding the above.
The Castle Point Local Highway Panel have requested additional information in relation to your request for speed surveys on Benfleet High Road. Therefore, please can you contact me on 01268 565 732 to discuss this matter in order that I can report back to the Panel.
Alternatively, if you can send me an email with your contact number then I can call you.
regards
Cllr Tom Skipp
Dear Cllr TSkipp,
Thank you for contacting me (via the whatdotheyknow web site) regarding traffic speeds along the High Road Benfleet. I recall some years ago speaking to the workmen installing part of the loop outside my property and when I enquired what they were doing they explained what it did and how it worked. Some time later I requested from Essex CC (through the freedom of information act) the statistics that had been collected. This was provided in the form of Excel spreadsheet data. When analysed it showed in a typical week in 2009 there were as many as 43000 speed violations in both directions between Tarpots and Chestnut Grove!!
At that time I assumed that given the extent of the problem, that some sort of speed governance would be applied to this stretch of road, but it never happened. I have never favoured speed cameras, as traffic simply slows at the camera and then accelerates after it, but visible speed indicators such as those installed in Thorney Bay Road Canvey, Church Road, Hart Road, and Kents Hill Road Benfleet do seem to have a calming affect on speeding traffic.
In 2012 I requested more up-to-date data from Essex CC, which when received covered a period in 2011. This showed that there were still over 40000 violations a week. I inquired of Essex CC for later 2012 data, but was informed that it was unavailable as the monitoring equipment was no longer operational.
I find the whole situation, unacceptable. Essex CC installs equipment at considerable cost and this shows that there is a serious ongoing problem with traffic speed along this stretch of road. They then do nothing about it and let the equipment fall into disuse. What a waste of time and money.
Given that there is an Infants & Junior school on this road, a senior school just off it, together with zebra crossings and many road junctions I would have thought that controlling speed should be of the utmost importance.
I believe that the situation is no better today, in fact it could be worse due to improvements to Tarpots and Sadlers removing traffic jams and hold-ups on the High Road.
I have included the spreadsheets for your perusal.
Kind regards
Ray Hilton
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R N Hilton left an annotation ()
Correction - I have been told by Essex CC that a meeting is taking place in June 2013 to discuss controlling speed along this stretch of road.
R N Hilton left an annotation ()
Councillors
Shortly after the last email, Essex CC contacted me by telephone, informing me that this would be discussed at the next highways meeting and that I would be informed of the outcome by June. This has not happened. I have to say, given that I raised this issue nearly a year ago I find the response from Essex CC officials, Essex and CPBC councillors totally unacceptable.
Perhaps someone would kindly inform me what is happening.
Thank you
Ray Hilton
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R N Hilton left an annotation ()
I have been told by Essex CC that a meeting is taking place in June 2012 to discuss controlling speed along this stretch of road.