Epsom Lane North

Firstly, thank you for your interest in helping to reduce the speed of traffic along Epsom Lane North.

Please find below a template letter that can be copied and pasted. This outlines the case for introducing average speed cameras along Epsom Lane North.

With a few minor edits this letter is ready to be sent to our local MP, Rebecca Paul and our local councillor, Peter Harp.

Again, we really appreciate your time to help make Epsom Lane North a safer road for all road users, pedestrians and residents.

Many Thanks

To: rebecca.paul.mp@parliament.uk

Cc: peter.harp@surreycc.gov.uk

Subject: Plea for Traffic Calming, Epsom Lane North (B290)

Dear Rebecca / Paul

I am a constituent of yours living [in Tadworth / Tattenhams / Nork / Great Burgh / on Epsom Downs], and I [regularly use / live on] Epsom Lane North (aka ‘the switchback’).

Within the foreword to Surrey County Council’s 'Vision Zero' Road Safety Strategy 2024 to 2035, it states that ‘Surrey County Council continues to make road safety a top priority’ (Matt Furniss, Cabinet Member for Transport and Infrastructure).

This regrettably does not seem to be the case down Epsom Lane North, given the endemic level of speeding which occurs along this road on a consistent basis.

I am aware that Community Speed Watch (CSW) operates along this road at regular intervals, as do the Police on an ad-hoc basis. I am also aware that the incidence of speeding motorists has seemingly not diminished despite this valuable support. Indeed, there are some drivers who seem to be immune to the letters received from CSW (and subsequent Police visits), and continue to ignore the speed limit. As an example, there are 3 particular vehicles logged along Epsom Lane North that fit this criteria: one vehicle at 7 offences, a second at 6, and a third with 5 offences, all within the last 12 months. This is barely a snapshot of the true scale of the problem, since the CSW volunteers, despite their valiant efforts, are only out for an hour or so every week, given they monitor a further 5 roads in the neighbourhood.

It is understood that this road is unsuitable for lower-cost traffic-calming measures (road humps, chicanes and the like) by virtue of the fact it is considered a primary route, has a high traffic density (in excess of 3 million vehicles annually), and is frequently used by the Emergency Services.

It is also a fact that when a static speed camera was installed along this road some years back, it was vandalised and set alight twice within a short timeframe. After the second occurrence, it was never replaced.

I would submit that the only way to curb the systematic and endemic speeding along Epsom Lane North is through the installation of average speed cameras, one positioned at the junction of Tattenham Corner Road and Tattenham Crescent to the north (B290 & B2221), the other at the junction of Epsom Lane North and Merland Rise to the south.

Data from ‘crashmap.co.uk’ has identified the following incidents between these two points over the last 26 years as follows:

Fatal: 2

Serious: 12

Slight: 60

The cost of these incidents according to the Department of Transport, the value of preventing a collision (2019) totals £9,233,642 over this time span, or in excess of £355k per annum, significantly exceeding the cost of an average-speed camera installation over the course of just FOUR months.

I therefore strongly support the implementation of an average-speed camera installation for traffic-calming along Epsom Lane North, and would encourage you to lobby the appropriate authorities so funding is enabled without delay (especially given it would pay for itself over a very short timespan), and these measures are put in to effect at the earliest opportunity.

Kind regards / Sincerely etc

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