Closed
Speed limit signs confusing
Sent to Oxfordshire County Council less than a minute later
Heading South On A4130 past a building site, shortly after the Wantage Roundabout there is an apparently valid elevated sign marking start of a 40mph limit. A few yards further there is a single 40mph repeater in the grass at the roadside embankment.
Drivers then enter a stretch with street lamps, yet there are no signs to confirm the speed limit remains 40mph. One might assume a 30mph limit, from the presence of street lamps and absence of signs saying otherwise, but I suspect that’s not the intention.
Proceeding beyond the street lamps there are still no repeaters or terminal signs, the next sign one encounters is a NSL repeater just before the next roundabout.
Council ref: ENQ22935664
Updates
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Thank you for your enquiry. This issue has been passed onto the relevant team for investigation.
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This is a very difficult road on which to understand speed limit. Until recently, it was NSL and south of the construction works, still has the look and feel of NSL, yet the signage is ambiguous… 30mph? 40mph? NSL?
I am pleased to see that the matter has been passed onto the relevant team. But I am disappointed that after more than a week, the relevant team has not found time to respond. Is there any possibility that the relevant team might offer a prediction as to when an update might be forthcoming?
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Further info…
On closer inspection, I recently noticed there is in fact a solitary 40mph repeater facing southbound traffic. However, it is barely noticeable being on the extreme off side embankment on a section of the road that has a long and wide central reservation, making it technically a dual carriageway.
As far as I am aware, while TSRGD encourages staggered repeaters near side and offside, this refers to the relevant carriageway. Where the carriageway is dual, or even just a wide traffic island, the off side signage should be on the central island.
The biggest problem of all remains, which is the complete absence of regularly spaced repeaters, and of a terminal sign where NSL resumes.
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I drove this road again yesterday, and witnessed something approaching a “near miss”.
In a convoy of 3 vehicles heading south, driver #1 clearly and understandably was treating limit as 40mph. Driver #3 was clearly and understandably assuming limit to be NSL and started a multi vehicle overtake that had to be abandoned owing to northbound traffic emerging from Hithercroft roundabout.
Clearly, had a collision occurred, the overtaker’s driving would have been judged to be at least careless and probably dangerous. But Highways Authority might want to consider whether they may also share a burden of blame, through complete failure to respond to a failure on their part, that gives rise to the different perceptions of different drivers, and has been publicly documented for many weeks?
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As of about a week ago, the signage has become even more bizarre.
A solitary 40mph repeater has appeared just after the street-lit section. But a solitary repeater does not satisfy TSRGD requirements of repeaters at regular spacing.
There was still no terminal sign, for the transition back to NSL.
Northbound, it has got very silly indeed. As one exits the Hithercroft rbt, which is single carriagewat, there are two 40mph signs, one on either side. But they are not on either side of the carriageway, one is on the nearside verge whilst the other is on the central traffic island. This lends credibility to the idea that there might be a different speed limit north and south, which I feel sure is not the case.
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The 40 mph signage on the Southbound carriageway is still chaotic. There is no de-restriction sign as far as I can detect? The Northbound signage is poor as there is only a temporary sign near the Hithercroft roundabout, going North, then some repeaters. If you travel a 40 mph, most motorists want to overtake!
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It is more than six months since this was reported, I wonder whether the relevant team might yet be able to contribute with any comment?
I notice that the entrance to the new build estate is now decorated with splendidly compliant 20mph signs, which I am sure will save many lives.
Meanwhile, traffic on the main road seems free to decide for themselves whether the limit is 30 (because of the street lights) or 40 (because of the flawed signage) or 60mph NSL (because of the same flawed signage), or 70 mph NSL because it is a dual carriageway with flawed signage.
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Thank you for raising your concern and apologies for the delay in response. We will investigate the site and arrange for any changes deemed necessary.
This report is now closed to updates. You can make a new report in the same location.