Upstreet Traffic Survey

Some follow-up some speedchecks to the November 2022 traffic survey (see below) were conducted along Island Road on 23 March. The results of these checks are as follows.

10:20-10:45hrs: Junction with St Mary’s Garden 

Number of vehicles checked: 41

Number of vehicles exceeding the speed limit: 1 (36mph)

10:51-11:12hrs: Junction with Kingfisher Close

Number of vehicles checked: 43

Number of vehicles exceeding the speed limit: 3 (35mph , 37mph , 39mph )

Police action

3 written warnings issued

1 retrospective Section 59 warning issued

In November 2022, Kent County Council (KCC) kindly conducted some traffic surveys of Island Road in Upstreet. The detailed findings can be downloaded using the links below. Three surveys were conducted, separated into “Mid”, “East” and “West”.

The mean speeds recorded were:

West:

The mean speeds recorded were 33.2mph (Eastbound) and 35.2mph (Westbound). As you can see from the summary below the majority of vehicles are complying with the current speed limit.

Click here for the detailed data.

Mid:

The mean speeds recorded were 27.1mph (Eastbound) and 28.4mph (Westbound). As you can see from the summary below the majority of vehicles are complying with the current speed limit.

Click here for the detailed data. 

East:

The mean speeds recorded were 35.7mph (Eastbound) and 33.2mph (Westbound). As you can see from the summary below the majority of vehicles are complying with the current speed limit.

Click here for the detailed data. 

Concluding comments from KCC

“Although the speeds are good for middle section of Upstreet, the entry points to the East and West are a little high for what we would like and if it does fit the criteria, we would require additional traffic calming measures such as additional lining. This would be down to our P&A Team to decide whether this would be feasible.”

Methodology comment

One of the limitations of the equipment used is that it can generate some anomalies, for example when two vehicles cross the tubes at the same time but in opposite directions. This can confuse the equipment and record what appears to be an exceptionally high speed for a couple of vehicles. The number of instances of this is usually very low and, because average data is used, these anomalies do not distort the data. However, we need to flag this in case people interrogate the raw data and spot these high speeds. The two speed measures that are used are mean (average) speed and 85th percentile speed for a virtual week. The latter is the speed at which 85% of vehicles are travelling at or below.