Martyrs Lane, Woodham - Speed Limit

Overview

Thank you for your interest in our speed limit proposals in Martyrs Lane, Woodham. 

The legislation we must follow before introducing this scheme means that we need to allow objections and comments from the public to be considered before a final decision is reached about whether or not to go ahead with our preferred scheme in its current form.

The proposal:

Martyr’s Lane is approximately 830 metres long and forms a direct link between the A245 Woodham Lane and the A320 Chertsey Road (the roundabout junction with the latter sometimes being referred to as the Mclarens Roundabout, for the adjacent Mclaren Technology Centre).

For approximately 790 metres north-westwards from its junction with the A245 Woodham Lane, Martyr’s Lane is subject to the national, de-restricted speed limit. There are two uncontrolled pedestrian crossings along this length of road, which are used by members of the New Zealand Golf Club to move between different parts of the golf course.

This length of road also includes the Woking Community Recycling Centre, which can cause queuing traffic on Martyr’s Lane even outside of peak periods and busy weekends, these queues can be significant.

The presence of this length of national speed limit between the 50mph on the A320 and the 40mph limit on the A245 is slightly anomalous. The proposed change seeks to remove this anomaly and provide some level of consistency with the other speed limits in the area. Although the road has a good safety record, positively and clearly signing the lower limit should reduce the likelihood of any incidents involving traffic coming upon queuing traffic at the Community Recycling Centre.

An additional benefit concerns the small gas regulation building close to the junction with Woodham Lane. This was rebuilt during 2019/2020 and current regulations required there to be vehicle containment features between the building and the road to prevent vehicles from colliding with the building and the equipment inside. Space was not available for containment features suitable for a national speed limit road (even though the proximity to the Woodham Lane junction would mean that speeds would never be that high at this location). Reducing the speed limit would mean that the vehicle containment features would be compliant.

At its meeting on 24 March 2021, the Woking Joint Committee approved a programme of works that included a review of the speed limit along Martyr’s Lane and allowed for this to be advertised and progressed subject to speed surveys confirming that such a reduction would meet the County Council’s current speed limit policy.

Vehicle speeds were recorded at two points along the road, one approximately 205metres from Woodham Lane and the other approximately 327metres. The mean speeds recorded at both locations were low enough to permit the speed limit to be reduced to 40mph based on the County Council’s current speed limit policy and Surrey Police have, consequently, given their support for such a reduction.

File attachments:

• Public Notice
• Statement of Reason
• Plan

If you would like to object, support, or comment on the proposal, please use the Online Survey linked at the bottom of the page, or alternatively, write to:

Hazel House, Merrow Lane, Guildford, Surrey GU4 7BQ, by 2 September 2021.

by 2nd September 2021

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What happens next

The comments and objections will be considered by Lucy Monie. We will write to you again to let you know the outcome.