Speed Limit On Sheffield Parkway Set To Be Cut?

[Phili Buster]

4 hours ago, Planner1 said:

Of course they are monitored. The signals at every significant junction in Sheffield are connected to an urban traffic control system, they have CCTV cameras around the network, a control room and a team of staff who monitor traffic and operate the systems. All of that has been in place for many years.

 

The problem is that individual drivers don't have the overview and only see that they are sitting in a queue. They can't see the overall situation.

 

Traffic is held back on the parkway and other locations, because the inner ring road can't cope with the volume of traffic that arrives at peak hours and it grinds to a halt if you allow unrestricted flow onto it. Traffic is therefore metered onto the inner ring road at a rate which will still allow the IRR to keep following.  Traffic can queue on the Parkway without affecting the wider network, so having the queue there is better in overall network management terms.

 

It has been necessary to manage traffic like this at peak hours for many years and it is genuinely nothing to do with justifying any congestion charge.

For many years, SCC operated those signals via their control room and urban traffic control system.  The junction and the signals belong to the Government and are maintained / operated by Highways England. SCC operated the signals on behalf of HE.

 

A couple of years back when Highways England refurbished and improved the junction, they took back control of the signals and now they operate them and set the timings / sequence.

Many thanks Planner1 for taking the time to provide the explanations / information, much appreciated.  Also information about Electric Vehicles

 

I was not aware that Highways England had taken over the operation of the signals at that junction.

Edited July 6, 2019 by Phili Buster

[Janus]

5 hours ago, iansheff said:

I don't use the Parkway from town very often but when I do I am surprised by the number of cars that overtake me driving well over the 50mph limit. The drivers either just ignore the limit or think because it is a dual carriageway it is 70mph.

I also find this to be the case. Plenty of camera signs but only one camera near the Sheff end.

[Longcol]

I think quite a few drivers think the limit is 50mph for the whole length to the M1 - there is usually someone in the outside lane doing 50 a couple of miles before the M1 - presumably wanting to turn right at the end of the Parkway onto the M1 south - and very reluctant to pull over to the nearside lane.

[Janus]

That must be frustrating for those behind in that lane.

[ads36]

1) there's usually a queue at each end of the parkway, there's little point going faster.  Reducing the limit won't have any effect on journey times.

 

2) the sliproad up from Darnall is short, and uphill, and has a short merging lane.  I'm surprised it's into a 70 zone, not surprised we're talking about reducing the limit.

 

3) people live beside this road. Reducing the limit seems like a civilised thing to do. 

[Dannyno]

I'm not sure how long the 70 stretch is, but the Parkway is 5.5 miles in total.

 

If you drive at 50 mph, you can travel that distance in 6 minutes 36 seconds.   

 

If you drive at 70 mph, you can travel that distance in  4 minutes 43 seconds.

 

So the difference is, er, about 1 minute 53 seconds (on edit: had to double check!).

 

I would imagine the environmental benefits of cutting speed will vastly outweigh the 2 minute increase in journey time (less, of course, because the 70 stretch is not the whole of the road).

Edited July 7, 2019 by Dannyno

[Phili Buster]

2 hours ago, Dannyno said:

I'm not sure how long the 70 stretch is, but the Parkway is 5.5 miles in total.

 

If you drive at 50 mph, you can travel that distance in 6 minutes 36 seconds.   

 

If you drive at 70 mph, you can travel that distance in  4 minutes 43 seconds.

 

So the difference is, er, about 1 minute 53 seconds (on edit: had to double check!).

 

I would imagine the environmental benefits of cutting speed will vastly outweigh the 2 minute increase in journey time (less, of course, because the 70 stretch is not the whole of the road).

The 70 limit is from the Handsworth Road roundabout to the M1 both outbound and inbound.

2 hours ago, ads36 said:

1) there's usually a queue at each end of the parkway, there's little point going faster.  Reducing the limit won't have any effect on journey times.

 

2) the sliproad up from Darnall is short, and uphill, and has a short merging lane.  I'm surprised it's into a 70 zone, not surprised we're talking about reducing the limit.

 

3) people live beside this road. Reducing the limit seems like a civilised thing to do. 

It has been 70 at that point ever since they opened that extension to the M1.

 

As for people living beside the road, it is not as if there is a pavement alongside the road.

 

Rather than reducing the speed limit from 70  and it being a "civilised thing to do", a more civilised thing to do would be to enforce the 30 mph limit on Handsworth Road between the railway bridge near The White Nose (sorry Rose) and the roundabout for the Parkway.  There is a fortune to be made on that stretch of road, it is only by good fortune there have not been fatalities on that stretch.

[Janus]

I would not have a problem of the 70 being reduced to 50. There would probably be a need for cameras for it to be adhered to.

[Planner1]

1 hour ago, Phili Buster said:

As for people living beside the road, it is not as if there is a pavement alongside the road.

 

It's probably more about noise and disturbance as well as air quality/pollution. The faster a vehicle goes, the more noise is generated. There are noise barriers going up in various places on the motorway network where houses are close to the road.

1 hour ago, Phili Buster said:

Rather than reducing the speed limit from 70  and it being a "civilised thing to do", a more civilised thing to do would be to enforce the 30 mph limit on Handsworth Road between the railway bridge near The White Nose (sorry Rose) and the roundabout for the Parkway.  There is a fortune to be made on that stretch of road, it is only by good fortune there have not been fatalities on that stretch.

Why don't you ask South Yorkshire Police to carry out mobile speed enforcement there? They do enforce in areas of community concern. Give them a call on the 101 non emergency number.

[Phili Buster]

27 minutes ago, Planner1 said:

It's probably more about noise and disturbance as well as air quality/pollution. The faster a vehicle goes, the more noise is generated. There are noise barriers going up in various places on the motorway network where houses are close to the road.

Why don't you ask South Yorkshire Police to carry out mobile speed enforcement there? They do enforce in areas of community concern. Give them a call on the 101 non emergency number.

All the houses nearby already have sound deadening, which was installed at the time the extension to the Parkway was being built, however I wouldn't class the houses as being particularly close to the road.  I live fairly close to a main road and have become used to the 'noise' such that I often find it difficult to sleep when on holiday due to it being too quiet - I know, it's already been suggested, go to one of those hotels being rebuilt or next to a building site 😉 . As for air quality/pollution, I would have thought that would be less now than previously with modern engines (apart from during rush hour queueing traffic).

 

Hadn't thought about 101 to be fair, thanks for tip. I will try them this afternoon (I get free calls of a weekend) but liable to be a long wait.