Council looks to reduce speed limit on road between Clowne and Bolsover after safety campaign

Bolsover District Coun Donna Hales and residents at Oxcroft estate have repeatedly raised concerns with Derbyshire County Council about the amount of accidents on the B6417 Mansfield Road, off Ramper Avenue, in Clowne, between Clowne and Bolsover, known locally as the Ramper road.

A county council spokesperson said: “We are aware of residents’ concerns about speeding traffic on the B6417 Mansfield Road and, following assessment of all the concerns and recent issues, are looking to lower the speed limit to 40mph through the Oxcroft area.”

Coun Hales has said the speed limit on this stretch of road is currently 60mph and following a series of accidents including ‘life-changing incidents’ and ‘fatalities’ campaigners have been involved in a long-running appeal urging the county council’s highways team to address the problems with a reduced speed limit and traffic-calming measures.

Coun Hales, who represents Bolsover North and Shuttlewood, has told how the scale of the problem meant the community was not even been able to do community speed watches to provide statistics because it is not safe to do so with the 60mph speed limit.

She has been pushing for traffic-calming measures along the road particularly along stretches near to residential properties.

One of the latest collisions on the B6417 Mansfield Road happened just after 8.30am, on October 2, between a Volkswagen Golf and a Ford Transit tipper vehicle, according to Derbyshire Constabulary, and two people were taken to hospital but their injuries were not thought to be life-threatening.

The council has met with campaigners and after working with Derbyshire Constabulary it has already increased signage which was introduced at the entrances to Oxcroft to encourage sensible driving through the village.

Derbyshire Constabulary has also been working with the Derby and Derbyshire Road Safety Partnership and confirmed there are mobile enforcement sites along the B6417 which are used to monitor traffic by the Casualty Reduction and Enforcement Support Team and enforcement action is being taken when necessary and appropriate.

The council spokesperson added: “The police are supportive of our proposed changes and we are currently consulting our statutory consultees as part of the Traffic Regulation Process, which takes some time to complete as a formal legal process we have to go through.

“We have also recently increased signage at entrances to Oxcroft to further try to improve road safety through the village.”

Coun Hales has welcomed the latest consultation process and she thanked the public and councillors for their hard work in helping to highlight and address the problem of traffic safety.

Derbyshire Constabulary confirmed that the force supports the county council’s proposed changes to introduce a reduced speed limit through the Oxcroft area along the B6417 Mansfield Road.

Road safety changes on problematic roads can include the introduction of reduced speed limits, traffic-calming and traffic-safety measures such as new signage, new road markings, and the introduction of speed cameras and even speed humps, bumps and ramps.