{"id":14011,"date":"2013-10-08T23:17:33","date_gmt":"2013-10-08T22:17:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.diaryofanadi.co.uk\/?p=14011"},"modified":"2013-10-08T23:17:33","modified_gmt":"2013-10-08T22:17:33","slug":"underhand-traffic-monitoring-by-nottinghamshire-county-council","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/diaryofanadi.co.uk\/?p=14011","title":{"rendered":"Underhand Traffic Monitoring By Nottinghamshire County Council"},"content":{"rendered":"

I recently wrote about Nottingham City Council\u2019s (NCC) plans<\/a> to introduce a blanket 20mph speed limit across most of the city. As I pointed out\u2026<\/p>\n

\"One<\/a><\/p>\n

20mph is too slow for many roads<\/h5>\n

I also pointed out that NCC had already decided<\/strong> it was going to do this, no matter what people thought about it. They said as much in the leaflets they sent out (click the image to see one for the Wilford area). So it initially came as a bit of surprise to discover motorists were being stopped along Haydn Road \u2013 where 20mph has already been imposed \u2013 and being canvassed on their opinions. This was happening about two weeks ago albeit months after the leaflet went out.<\/p>\n

But now we have moved a little further. NCC apparently didn\u2019t like the results it was getting from the canvassing.<\/p>\n

As I pointed out in that last article, RoSPA recommends 20mph limits on roads where the average speed is already below 24mph,<\/strong> and where the road looks like it should be 20mph in the first place. Haydn Road doesn\u2019t fit that bill in any way, shape, or form, and I suspect that NCC has now realised this and is anxious to regain lost ground.<\/p>\n

So last week, I noticed that traffic monitoring devices have been installed on all the roads where NCC is planning on introducing 20mph limits. You will note that these devices \u2013 those double-black wires across roads, which are used primarily to monitor traffic speeds over a period of time \u2013 have gone in at least a week after<\/strong> the Haydn Road canvassing exercise, and therefore\u00a0several months after<\/strong> NCC announced it was going to do this anyway by sending out its stupid leaflets.<\/p>\n

This apparent attempt to gather the right sort of data after a decision has already been taken is bad enough, but let\u2019s take a look at where they\u2019ve put these monitoring devices. Firstly, on Ruddington Lane, which is now a major thoroughfare after the closure of Wilford Lane.\u00a0Instead of the hundreds of cars that used to go along that road, you now have many thousands each day, and in the extended rush hour created by the tram works and other idiotic road improvements and utilities works\u00a0everywhere else (it now lasts anywhere from 3.30pm until 7pm) Ruddington Lane is gridlocked by people trying to pass through Compton Acres to West Bridgford and beyond. Traffic is at a complete standstill for the busiest part of the day.<\/p>\n

Maybe those responsible are not as dumb as you might think. I suspect that they\u00a0know full well that the average speed of traffic being monitored now<\/strong> is going to support their moronic 20mph policy, and that\u2019s why they\u2019re doing it. They know that no matter what speed people drive at along Ruddington Lane when it\u2019s quiet (or when Wilford Lane was open), the huge number who are virtually stationary now will pull the average speed right down. I\u2019m sure this will come out in their \u201cpublic consultation meetings\u201d. Of course, if they are<\/strong> as dumb as you might think, then they are just producing highly inaccurate and flawed\u00a0data.<\/p>\n

If we rule out the “dumb” card, it\u00a0only leaves vindictiveness towards the motorist as the motivating force.<\/p>\n

They\u2019ve also put a set of wires in on Gregory Boulevard through Hyson Green. This road is also busy during rush hour, but in the last week \u2013 running as it does alongside the Goose Fair, with the numerous road closure and restrictions that last for a week as a result \u2013 the road has been gridlocked for much of the day. Again, highly misleading traffic speeds will have been recorded.<\/p>\n

In fact, the mass of road works which are causing chaos in the City at the moment have pulled the average speed down on ALL roads, and these monitoring devices are installed in multiple locations where traffic used to move freely, but doesn’t anymore. It is totally pointless trying to get a measure of normal road speeds under these artificial conditions. Pointless \u2013 unless you are deliberately trying to obtain misleading results for some purpose.<\/p>\n

Tonight, a lesson overran by half an hour as a result of the rush hour lasting until well after 7pm on the Ring Road. London Road into the City was at a standstill for some reason (and a sign at Trent Bridge proclaimed a lane closure for still more road works). The Aspley Lane works on the Ring Road are far from complete \u2013 the official end date is December \u2013 but a sign has now gone up outside Wollaton Park (Middleton Boulevard) advising of delays there when \u201cjunction improvements\u201d commence later\u00a0in October there. So the idiots have sanctioned yet another set of major road works amidst all the other incomplete works still in progress.<\/p>\n

And through it all, they will be monitoring average traffic speeds in order to justify their idiotic 20mph plan.<\/p>\n

I will say again:<\/p>\n

20mph is too slow for many roads \u2013 and add that creating purposely inaccurate data to support the plan isn\u2019t fooling anyone<\/h5>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I recently wrote about Nottingham City Council\u2019s (NCC) plans to introduce a blanket 20mph speed limit across most of the city. As I pointed out\u2026 20mph is too slow for many roads I also pointed out that NCC had already decided it was going to do this, no matter what people thought about it. They […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[80,102,117,92],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14011","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-adi-related","category-general-related","category-roadworks","category-transport"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/diaryofanadi.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14011","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/diaryofanadi.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/diaryofanadi.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/diaryofanadi.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/diaryofanadi.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=14011"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/diaryofanadi.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14011\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/diaryofanadi.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=14011"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/diaryofanadi.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=14011"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/diaryofanadi.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=14011"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}