Dorset Council is proposing a speed limit reduction from 40mph to 30mph along Wimborne Road and Stapehill Road in Ferndown to enhance safety for residents. The introduction of the new Transforming Cities Fund programme walking and cycling paths in the area – and the expected increase in people walking and cycling – has been a key driver for the proposal, alongside longstanding residential concerns about road safety on Stapehill Road and requests from the local community for a lower speed limit.
The proposed speed limit reduction on Wimborne Road runs from Canford Bottom Roundabout (Wimborne Road West) to the existing 30mph zone just before Batstone Way and from Trickett’s Cross Roundabout (Wimborne Road East) to the existing 30mph zone near Monkton Close.
The proposed speed limit reduction on Stapehill Road is along the northern section of the road running from the junction with Wimborne Road West to just south of Pompeys Lane.
Cllr Cathy Lugg, Ward Councillor for Ferndown North, said:
“Reducing the speed limit along Wimborne Road and Stapehill Road has been a long-held ambition for both Councillor Mike Parkes and myself, and something the local community has been repeatedly asking for.
The introduction of the new Transforming Cities Fund programme for walking and cycling paths in the area and the expected increase in people walking and cycling means we are now able to propose this speed limit reduction not only along Wimborne Road but the northern end of Stapehill Road too. Lowering the speeds will make it safer for people walking and cycling and is part of Dorset Council’s commitment to providing safe active travel for our local community.”
The introduction of the proposed speed limit reduction is subject to the outcome of a Traffic Regulation Order (TRO) – a legal consultation process. The TRO is currently under review by Dorset Council and is due to be advertised late summer 2022 when the public will be able to submit comments.
Please give details of the numbers and percentage as a whole of the ‘ local community’ that is supporting you and the one other councillor you mention, along with the number of times they have ‘repeatedly’ asked for this.
Also, please define ‘local community’ in area and numbers of users of the road in question.
Many thanks.
We would recommend contacting Cllr Lugg and Cllr Parkes directly – you can find their contact details via https://moderngov.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk/mgMemberIndex.aspx?bcr=1
Glad I’m not the only person who thinks the change of speed limit is utterly ridiculous! It makes no sense to waste all that money building these new cycle lanes that hardly any cylists use, you should have widened and resurfaced the roads instead! Reducing the speed limit on wimborne road is not an improvement by any means
Stapehill Rd should be 30mph for its whole length. No need to change Wimborne Rd East with the new cycle lanes in place should be safer and don’t believe this roD has any adverse history.
I am at loss to understand how reducing the speed limit will help cylists as there is now a massive cycle way which pedestrians can also use and crossing the road can be done at many points without hazards.
Agreed. Where there is decent pavement & cycle lane it is hard to understand how cars will mix with them.
If the existing speed limit is being broken then clearly changing it will make little difference – it needs to be enforced, not changed.
We must keep sight of peoples’ need to travel, including those commuting to work every day.
I speak as a driver/cyclist and sometime pedestrian.
I cannot see any justification for reducing the speed limit on this road. We are held up enough by the tremendous amount of traffic in our area as it is. Surely the whole idea of a cycle Lane is to separate cyclists from cars, therefore it’s already safer than previously. There is absolutely no logic in slowing traffic up even further. I think some of the councillors have forgotten what it is like doing a daily commute and having to get to work on time. Out of touch!
Agree!
New cycle and walk way to make it safer, cars are safer than ever so do we really need to reduce speed limits ?
Agree with all the proposals, but the limit on Stapehill Road should continue all the way to the Ham Lane junction. There are walkers, cyclists and horses using the road and all need safer provision .
The big issues on this stretch of road are not the speed, but (1) the lack of coordination between the traffic lights at the West Moors Road and Victoria Road junction, causing traffic to jam up in the section by the KIA garage, (2) the 90 degree turns into Victoria Road and Church Road (most drivers take these at very slow speeds, again causing traffic to bunch up) (3) the almost invisible right hand filter light at the West Moors Road/Wimborne Road junction. Apart from these issues, I’ve never had a problem on this road.
Claim our pavements back, the sprawling hedges and shrubs from private gardens make the pavements very narrow forcing people to walk near the road, come it’s common sense to ask people to cut them back, as we all own the pavements by paying our council. It would also make a more spacious feel to the area if you are into improving the area, these hedges make the area look shabby. Are you saying after doing all this work on making cycle paths that they are not safe so we have to reduce the speed limit? But l do agree people in Ferndown people are driving to fast mostly out of frustration because there are too many cars in the area.
I agree with the proposal that a 30mph speed limit reduction is proposed for Wimborne Road and Stapehill Road, Ferndown.
Maybe they should consider the same along Ham Lane from Hampreston to the Haskins garden centre.
Considering this road is used as a cut through for arctics and goes past a first school would seem just as sensible.
Vehicles go far to fast along this stretch and is dangerous for cars pulling out from the school and even at the roundabout by Haskins
Safety first!!
From my experience of using Ham Lane the traffic abides by 40mph practically all the time. I hardly ever see 38ton lorries along this road because they use Ringwood Road (but are seriously delayed by bike lane works). To say the junction with Stapehill Rd is dangerous is another over reaction as good drivers will slow for a junction or wait their turn. If drivers don’t then procecute them and not use a safety reason for introducing broad brush proposals. Some good news recently – I counted 3 bikes using the multi million £ bike lane.
What are the road traffic accident statistics for this area? I am opposed to more restriction. In my experience this is a quiet section as regards cyclists and walkers (I am an active walker myself) and see no justification for this.
It’s about time! Perhaps those that speed along these roads at 50/70 mph will now have to toe the line!
I would like to register my strong disapproval of this proposed 30mph speed limit, along with my objection to the changes currently in progress along this road and already completed along Wimborne Road West / Leigh Road. As a keen cyclist myself, and occassional driver, I am opposed to all of these measures.
The grounds on which the proposed reduction in speed limit are based are false. It is not true that there will be an increased number of cyclists/walkers using the new lanes, as evidenced by the empty cycle lanes along Leigh Road. The new cycle lanes are being built for cyclists that do not exist.
Anyone who can and wants to cycle is already doing so, we have had our cycling boom in the uk several years ago. The whole sustainable transport idea is flawed, barely anyone can swap their car journeys for walks and cycle rides. I live in Colehill but shop at Sainsbury’s and work in Southampton – how can I do those trips by foot or by bike? Building cycling and walking lanes along these roads is not going to turn Ferndown into Amsterdam.
After using this road also by car for over 20 years, I have never experienced any issues with drivers speeding. There is already a speed camera along Wimborne Road East and it does its job. And the number of traffic light controlled junctions along the road also serves to limit speeds in my experience.
The impacts of the introduction of dedicated cycle lanes on actual cyclists are negative, not positive. The effect of the new cycle lanes is to force cyclists off the road. In the case of Leigh Road it is now too narrow for cyclists to use safely, and when drivers see a dedicated cycle lane they become more impatient if they come across a cyclist still using the road. However as a cyclist I can tell you that when I set off on my bike I am going out to cycle the roads, I am not looking for an experience riding along the cycle lanes.
If the council wants to improve things for cyclists, then they should consider doing something about the abysmal state of the other roads in the area. Away from the new cycle lanes, the roads have fallen into such a terrible state of disrepair that cycling is now too dangerous to enjoy anymore. Take for example the road going past QE school where the deep cracks and holes are enough to tip a rider off their bike and into the traffic.
Another bug-bear for cyclists is the council’s use of “surface-dressing” and “micro-surfacing” which is passed off as road repair. These methods are a quick and dirty way of resurfacing a road and both of them result in a surface quality that is worse than what was there before. In my experience these road treatments often render a road unusable by cyclists until after months of crushing flat again by cars. How did our council lose the ability to lay a proper road surface that will last for decades?
It seems to me that all of these changes are completely unnecessary and are probably driven by the need to spend a government budget and tick some boxes. No matter what the local public actually wants or needs.
Take for example the crazy new road schemes that have been implemented at various busy junctions in East Dorset in recent years.
The “split then merge” technique now forced upon us at many sites (Gravel Hill for example) is a perfect illustration.
These serve no purpose whatsoever, they do not improve traffic flow, they only cause confusion to drivers unfamiliar with these roads.
Yet they have gone through at great expense and with little or no public consultation.
I used to love living in East Dorset but in recent years I feel like the place I loved has been destroyed, and the process continues.
Nowadays I look forward to moving back up North.
I feel the same as Dorset council want the cars to go slower and that increased pollution due to cars are less efferent and would increase emissions around 10%. Also the carbon footprint is massive on the new construction. The upshot the counsel doesn’t give a dam on the environment and built a useless long monument to show that they just done care.
Decisions about reducing speed limits should be based on facts. What are the accident rates, speeding offences, etc.? Perhaps enforcing the 40 mph limit is a better and simpler way to go?
I have been using this stretch of road for over 20 years now and I have never seen anyone speeding. There is a speed camera along the Stapehill Road section which works well to slow drivers down, plus there are too many sets of traffic lights to allow speeding. This reduction in speed limit is not justified.
I am also moving out of the area as soon as I can. Hate it here! Why are those who have wasted £millions on those ridiculous cycle lanes which nobody uses not being held to account???
After driving from Moordown to Wimborne and back again past the cycle lanes in Whitelegg Way, Magna Road, Leigh Road, Wimborne Road West (Stapehill) and Whitelegg Way again I am please to report we actually saw 3 cyclists in the whole journey, one of which was cycling in the road.
I cannot see any justification for reducing the speed limit as no one was speeding at any time, there is too much traffic in the BCP conurbation to allow for speeding and if the new cycle lanes are not safe enough for cyclists when cars are going past at 40mph why will they be any safer at 30mph and why are we getting cycle lanes put in that are not safe for the one or two cyclists that want to use them.
The use of bicycles and walking has not increased at all. We are out most days for various reasons and have a new game called “spot the cyclist”, which rarely results in seeing more than one cyclist (or any increase in pedestrians for that matter on these new walking/cycling lanes). If people are not out using them in this weather they never will.
The public transport system in the BCP area is not capable of transporting people everywhere they want to go without at least one change of bus, perhaps all this money should be spent on improving public transport. As a holder of a free bus pass I would be more than happy to use buses except they never seem to go where I want to go.
I spoke with Yellow Buses recently about the lack of buses in Moordown and was told they had actually cut back on bus routes!!!! How is this encouraging us to leave cars at home?
I am not anti pedestrian or anti cyclist, but the waste of money on providing these lanes for so little return is criminal. And don’t say the money comes from the Government so is not costing us anything, where do you think the government gets the money from? They get it from the taxes we pay!
To make things worse they are now installing those awful new LED street lamps which have no lens or cowl on them and consequently blind you just like modern car headlamps do.
I grew up in the 80s and 90s when things always seemed to get better and better as new technology emerged. It’s plain to see that those days are over and now we live in an era of change for change’s sake where things constantly get worse and even defy any common sense.
I was born in Wimborne in 1935. I have traveled the A31 from Ferndown to Wimborne so many times and was used to the 3oMPH. Sign at Leigh Common. You can immagine how I felt when a fine ticket came through the door.I saw the camera van,looked at the speed,and thought I am keeping the correct speed,it’s 40 here.I could see no repeater signs,and assumed the speed was as I had known all these years.Why are there no more repeater signs?