A331 permanent 50mph speed limit introduced
Discussion
As per the title, another NSL stretch of road appears to have gone. Went to Watchmoor Park Sainsbury today and noticed a permanent 50mph speed limit has been introduced on the A331 between the M3 & A30 roundabouts. I didn't even realise this was planned let alone being introduced 
Having looked online it seems it was originally proposed for introduction back in early 2012 but was then put on hold indefinitely.
Since it was first proposed the reasoning seems to have gone from just the usual / expected lowering accident risk on that stretch of road to now also being essential to lower the pollution levels that are present along that stretch of the A331. The limit reduction is also being seen as a requirement to improve traffic flow and minimise traffic congestion at peak times.
I guess the reasoning for the thread is did anyone else see that stretch of the A331 as being an accident blackspot that warranted the reduction?
I must admit I do find it amusing that whenever a speed limit reduction appears to be required it always has some form of ties to being beneficial to lowering nearby pollution levels. Again I didn't realise that stretch of the A331 was a pollution blackspot.
I'm also not sure how the limit reduction is going to ease traffic congestion as in the rush hour you're lucky if the traffic is moving faster than a crawling pace on that section anyway.
Having looked online it seems it was originally proposed for introduction back in early 2012 but was then put on hold indefinitely.
Since it was first proposed the reasoning seems to have gone from just the usual / expected lowering accident risk on that stretch of road to now also being essential to lower the pollution levels that are present along that stretch of the A331. The limit reduction is also being seen as a requirement to improve traffic flow and minimise traffic congestion at peak times.
I guess the reasoning for the thread is did anyone else see that stretch of the A331 as being an accident blackspot that warranted the reduction?
I must admit I do find it amusing that whenever a speed limit reduction appears to be required it always has some form of ties to being beneficial to lowering nearby pollution levels. Again I didn't realise that stretch of the A331 was a pollution blackspot.
I'm also not sure how the limit reduction is going to ease traffic congestion as in the rush hour you're lucky if the traffic is moving faster than a crawling pace on that section anyway.
Edited by AlexRS2782 on Thursday 16th July 20:15
Having a look online, the limit reduction also seems to also be tied to plans by SCC / EnterpriseM3 to introduce a permanent bus route (including seated stops & bus layby areas) along that stretch of the A331 with the idea that it should serve commuters for the various industrial units including Stanhope Road, Riverside Way, etc. Evidently commuters should be encouraged to commute there by bus, not car, thus reducing congestion at peak times.
Not sure how that congestion will be eased as aren't they planning the reconstruction of The Meadows roundabout for 2016 after the managed motorway is completed? That's going to be about as bad for congestion as the M3 is at Basingstoke with the current reconstruction work being done there at the moment.
Interestingly, it also appears Rushmoor Council are also currently considering the possible benefits of dropping from NSL to 50 on the A331 from the Aldershot junction to the A31 interchange, with the reasoning being to minimise accident risk and slowing vehicles well in advance of the A31 interchange. Again, is that a particular accident blackspot?
Not sure how that congestion will be eased as aren't they planning the reconstruction of The Meadows roundabout for 2016 after the managed motorway is completed? That's going to be about as bad for congestion as the M3 is at Basingstoke with the current reconstruction work being done there at the moment.
Interestingly, it also appears Rushmoor Council are also currently considering the possible benefits of dropping from NSL to 50 on the A331 from the Aldershot junction to the A31 interchange, with the reasoning being to minimise accident risk and slowing vehicles well in advance of the A31 interchange. Again, is that a particular accident blackspot?
Edited by AlexRS2782 on Thursday 16th July 21:43
After this afternoon I can now sort of understand why the speed limit has been introduced - as annoying as it is when you used to enjoy accelerating off the final M3 roundabout and snicking up through the gears - although it appears it will still get ignored by the people that it's meant to deal with in the first place.
Heading in the direction of the M3 doing the speed limit, with the lights for straight ahead on green, a guy in a silver current shape M3, presumably back late from lunch / late for a meeting, decided to jump the lights on the opposite carriageway so that he could turn right into Riverside Way.
Had M3 guy been slower in jumping the lights, or made the decision to jump them a few seconds later than he did, he'd most likely have been hit full whack by a black Nissan GTR, that shot past me in the outside lane doing a good 80+ a couple of seconds later. I imagine that would have been a fairly nasty accident had the two made contact.
Heading in the direction of the M3 doing the speed limit, with the lights for straight ahead on green, a guy in a silver current shape M3, presumably back late from lunch / late for a meeting, decided to jump the lights on the opposite carriageway so that he could turn right into Riverside Way.
Had M3 guy been slower in jumping the lights, or made the decision to jump them a few seconds later than he did, he'd most likely have been hit full whack by a black Nissan GTR, that shot past me in the outside lane doing a good 80+ a couple of seconds later. I imagine that would have been a fairly nasty accident had the two made contact.
FurryExocet said:
It was awesome down there today, took me 20 minutes to do the stretch from Sainsbury to the Meadows.
All because some bright spark decided to cone out the nearside lane, not because there was roadworks on at the meadows, oh no, the roadworks were the other side of the blackwater bridge!!
1 lane on the BVR, then left all the way over the bridge, caused absolute chaos
Same again today although the cones were only on the short stretch from the final lights before The Meadows All because some bright spark decided to cone out the nearside lane, not because there was roadworks on at the meadows, oh no, the roadworks were the other side of the blackwater bridge!!
1 lane on the BVR, then left all the way over the bridge, caused absolute chaos
Thankfully I was only stuck for about 10 minutes before I got through the roundabout to Tesco. 25 minutes later around 3PM, heading in the opposite direction, and the queue was stretched all the way back past Sainsbury resulting in numerous people performing dodgy U-Turns at the traffic lights at Admiralty Way & Sainsbury The queue on the A30 was also way back to Knoll Road at one point too, although some of that was in part being caused by all the pillocks that refuse to use the Bus Lane outside of it's operating hours
Edited by AlexRS2782 on Thursday 30th July 02:01
Keith ctr said:
Well looks like the 50 limit doesn't stop the accidents. Another biggy at the Watchmoor Point lights this morning, hope all involved are ok 
No doubt caused by the usual A331 speeders and red light chancers! 
I narrowly avoided being hit by a speeding & red light jumping arsewipe of an E92 M3 driver there on Wednesday night No doubt caused by the usual A331 speeders and red light chancers! I was waiting in the feeder lane to turn right into Sainsbury's and my light turned green. I went to move off and saw the headlights of the M3 banging along, at well over the new 50 limit, in the outside lane from the direction of The Meadows and decided to stop my turn as it certainly didn't look like he had any intention of stopping for his red light. As expected he blew through the red light without hesitation
Maybe they should consider some red light cameras down there for 2016.
Edited by AlexRS2782 on Thursday 24th December 20:38
Funny you should mention the timing of the lights as I've noticed since the start of this year that the phasing / delay on the Sainsbury's lights appears to have changed slightly this year.
Originally when the lights went green to allow people to turn right into Sainsbury's from the A331 the lights would also immediately turn green to allow people to turn left out of Sainsbury's onto the A331 heading towards the M3. Now when the lights go green for people to turn right into Sainsbury's, anyone waiting to turn left onto the A331 M3 bound is held on red which only turns green at the same time the lights allow traffic to turn right in the direction of The Meadows.
From what I've seen the last couple of weeks I've been shopping, all that phasing change seems to have done is encourage a few more idiots to perform illegal U-turns and head back towards the M3
Originally when the lights went green to allow people to turn right into Sainsbury's from the A331 the lights would also immediately turn green to allow people to turn left out of Sainsbury's onto the A331 heading towards the M3. Now when the lights go green for people to turn right into Sainsbury's, anyone waiting to turn left onto the A331 M3 bound is held on red which only turns green at the same time the lights allow traffic to turn right in the direction of The Meadows.
From what I've seen the last couple of weeks I've been shopping, all that phasing change seems to have done is encourage a few more idiots to perform illegal U-turns and head back towards the M3
Edited by AlexRS2782 on Wednesday 17th February 18:08
LHRFlightman said:
As of this morning, the A331 is now a 50mph road, from the A31 to the M3.
Speed cameras will no doubt follow shortly, and the Police camera van will be parked up on the bridge at North Camp imminently I suspect.
You have been warned.
Yep. I think i posted on the A24 speed reduction / camera thread earlier this year about this. Speed cameras will no doubt follow shortly, and the Police camera van will be parked up on the bridge at North Camp imminently I suspect.
You have been warned.
It's something that's evidently been long in the planning and, when i'd been reading about it last year, the 50 limit was originally going to be introduced on a trial basis, at some point by this summer, but only as far as the Coleford Bridge / Mytchett junction. There was a consultation run late last year about environmental concerns and accidents on the stretch between Farnborough Gate & Coleford Bridge.
Earlier this year the various councils suggested an amendment to the consultation that said the original 50mph reduction should ideally be extended in the long term as far as the A31, and from what i could find out it also looks like the entire A31 from Guildford to Farnham will likely be dropped to 50 at some point too.
Looks like the reasons for the drop are the usual split between mainly reducing pollution but also reducing speeding & encouraging people to use the walking & cycle routes along the Blackwater Valley relief route. Any future reduction on the A31 appears to be due to Guildford council desperately still trying to force through planning permission to redevelop the countryside areas, along the Hogs Back, Wanborough, Puttenham, etc, and turn them into a massive out of town housing development
Edit - did a bit more searching and found this from the official report - seems like Surrey Police aren't particularly impressed about any reduction along the full length of the A31 and have even asked how exactly the relevant councils would expect to enforce the limit.
SurreyPolice said:
Whilst we [Surrey Police’s Road Safety & Traffic Management Team] have not indicated an official objection at this time, we reserve the right to submit such an objection at the formal consultation stage. At that time you may be in a better position to shown what the full proposals are by the government and yourselves on how it is envisaged that this 50mph limit will be enforced (which does not meet your Speed Limit Policy).
It must be remembered that all of the environmental benefits that are being suggested for this scheme comes not through just lowering the speed limit to 50mph, but ensuring that drivers actually drive at that speed. An unrealistic speed limit that cannot be enforced and that drivers do not conform to will not achieve any environmental improvement and will just lead to a general disregard for all speed limits
Based on the above, i assume the various councils that the 331 runs through will all be applying for government funding for average speed camera installation before the end of 2019 (just like the A24).It must be remembered that all of the environmental benefits that are being suggested for this scheme comes not through just lowering the speed limit to 50mph, but ensuring that drivers actually drive at that speed. An unrealistic speed limit that cannot be enforced and that drivers do not conform to will not achieve any environmental improvement and will just lead to a general disregard for all speed limits
Edited by AlexRS2782 on Wednesday 19th June 19:29
The only plus point of the extended lower limit is they've finally decided to put some fresh tarmac down. Bit late though given how many years we've had to dodge various potholes, previous filled repairs (to varying degress of success), etc.
One or two people still trying to push 80+ down the new 50 at the moment which is resulting in some interesting closing speeds, tailgating, people getting headlight flashed, others stupidly moving into the left land into gaps that are barely suitable (especially when other cars are on the Coleford Bridge slip road trying to head M3 bound).
One or two people still trying to push 80+ down the new 50 at the moment which is resulting in some interesting closing speeds, tailgating, people getting headlight flashed, others stupidly moving into the left land into gaps that are barely suitable (especially when other cars are on the Coleford Bridge slip road trying to head M3 bound).
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