Motorists have been clocked travelling at speeds of over 80mph in Burnham-On-Sea by new roadside speed monitoring units.
Speeds of 71mph have been recorded in Berrow Road and a maximum speed of 82mph has been recorded in Burnham Road by the speed indicator devices, which are currently being used by the Town Council to assess whether additional safety measures are needed.
Earlier this year, we reported here that speeds of 100mph had been recorded along Burnham’s Frank Foley Parkway. The council passed on the data to Burnham-On-Sea Police and extra mobile speed checks are being undertaken.
The latest data was recorded over two weeks of the summer and found that in Berrow Road, a maximum speed of 71mph was recorded. However, there was good news too – with 91% of outgoing traffic not exceeding the 30mph limit while 97% of incoming traffic also stuck to the 30mph limit. During the monitoring period, 215 vehicles travelled over 46mph.
In Burnham Road, near the King Alfred School entrance, a maximum speed of 82mph was recorded. However, 87% of outgoing traffic did not exceed the 30mph limit while 95.7% of incoming traffic stuck to the 30mph limit. During the monitoring period, 166 vehicles travelled over 46mph.
Reacting to the latest figures, Cllr Andy Hodge said: “They are reasonable figures – a high percentage of the traffic was within the speed limit at both sites. The good thing is that we now have access to quality data that we can see and follow – it gives us the ability to act if necessary.”
Cllr Phil Harvey added: “The Berrow Road figures are what one would expect. There is slightly more speeding going out of Burnham but given the location of the device on the bend near Stoddens Road you would expect traffic to be coming slower from the Berrow direction. I don’t think there’s anything significant there.”
“More concerning are the Burnham Road figures. We can see that for the traffic going out of Burnham 87% is below 30mph on the side of the road where King Alfred School is – it’s potentially an area that we need to keep an eye on. We need to put down a marker there to look at it again in a few months’ time.”
