Road Safety Trial

Thank you to all those who have taken the time to raise questions about the Road Safety Trial.  We have prepared the following list of questions and answers that we hope answer most of your queries.  However, if we have missed something, please email us any questions or concerns at hello@drymen.org.

A well-attended public meeting took place on Monday, 21 August, where more background to the road safety trial and its aims was presented. Many of those attending provided feedback and asked questions. Below you can download a copy of the presentation.

Question 1:  Why was the Road Safety Trial conceived and whose idea was it?

Reducing speeding traffic and providing a safe crossing point in the centre of the village have been high priorities for the community for some time.  They are highlighted as priorities in the 2012 Community Action Plan, highlighted again in the 2022 Living Well Locally study and came out as the second highest ranking priority for the village in the 2023 Place Plan (with 90% of respondents ranking them as ‘Highest Priority’ or ‘Important’).

In 2022 Drymen Community Development Trust (DCDT) were successful in obtaining grant funding from the Road Safety Trust charity to support a temporary trial of a new layout to reduce traffic speed and provide a safer crossing point.  That allowed us to put in place a trial to see if we could address these long-standing community priorities. 

Drymen Community Development Trust is a community charity set up in the early 2000’s which is committed to delivering projects to improve the village.  The DCDT is managed by a committee of volunteers on behalf of its members and the wider community.  It is guided by the priorities of the village as set out in the Place Plan and similar community surveys.

Drymen Community Development Trust is a separate organisation from Drymen Community Council, which is a statutory body that represents the village in local government and is also made up of local volunteers. Unfortunately, Drymen Community Council was disbanded in 2022, but is in the process of reforming.

Question 2:  How was the layout of the Road Safety Trial developed? 

The layout was designed by the transport consultancy TP&E.  The design was then reviewed and commented on by Drymen Community Council, Stirling Council roads team and the DCDT.  After some minor modifications it was then put out to the community for review.

Please note that the planters are temporary, and are being used as a relatively simple and inexpensive way of testing a new road layout.  After the trial is complete, they can be removed. 

The trial should also include a marked road crossing point, although this has yet to be implemented. 

Question 3:  Was the proposed layout put out for community consultation before it was decided on?

Yes, a community consultation took place in the village hall in November 2022.  The consultation was advertised on Facebook, by email to DCDT members and on posters that were put up around the village.

At the consultation presentations were made by DCDT and the designers, TP&E.  These presentations were also uploaded to the village website for anyone who was unable to attend.

The DCDT presentation is available to see here.

The TP&E presentation is available to see here.

Various comments and concerns were raised and discussed at the meeting and some minor modifications were made to the drawings.

Brief minutes from the meeting are available to read here.

The final design was then reviewed by an independent road safety auditor before being reviewed and approved for implementation by Stirling Council roads team.

Question 4:  At the community meeting about it, did the majority vote against it?

No.  At the meeting several alternatives such as a installing a mini roundabout, speed bumps or one-way systems were raised and discussed.  There was no vote at the meeting, but general support that the trial should proceed.

Question 5: Why not install a mini round-about? (or other traffic calming measure)

A mini roundabout at the junction between Stirling Road and Main Street has been considered and was discussed at the consultation meeting in November 2022.

Under the current design standards for a mini roundabout on a bus route, it would require a space of 18-20 metres diameter, which would extend from the corner by the Spar all the way to the park benches in the square. The bus stop would have to be moved and the benches and all the street furniture would have to be moved back several metres.

Similarly, speed bumps and one-way systems around the village have also been considered, but found not to be feasible.  Speed bumps tend to be noisy for residents living near them, and the area around the square has several residential properties that sit right on the pavement, and would therefore be particularly affected by the noise of speed bumps. 

Question 6: Why not just install a proper pedestrian crossing?

That is certainly our aim in the longer term, and something that the village has been requesting for a long time.  However, Stirling Council are not currently able to fund a full pedestrian crossing and the funding sources available to the DCDT (in this case the Road Safety Trust grant) would not cover that cost.  It is our hope that this trial is a step closer to that goal, demonstrating the value of a safer crossing point.

Please be aware that a full pedestrian crossing will also take up a significant amount of space as it is likely to require a build-out from the square side to narrow the road and/or a stretch of zig zag lines to either side of the crossing to stop parking.

Question 7:  What is going to be done about disabled parking?

One of the main objectives of the trial was to narrow the main road and make a safer, shorter crossing point.  It was felt that this would be of particular benefit to children and less mobile people who previously found it difficult to cross the wide road safely.

However, we appreciate that the removal of a length of double yellow lines could be seen to have reduced the parking available to blue badge holders.  We have raised the issue of disabled parking spaces previously with Stirling Council and will continue to push for at least one disabled space in the square area.  Any outcome of this trial will ensure that parking for blue badge holders is considered and during the trial period we will continue to look at options to provide more disabled parking in the centre of the village. 

Question 8:  Where will a crossing be put in?

The crossing point will be between the path formed by the planters and the corner between The Pottery and the Spar.   It is our intention that the crossing will be in red, similar to the WHW crossing of the A811.  Unfortunately, this part of the work has not been completed yet, but will be done as soon as possible.

The crossing point has been chosen as it is the only location which has reasonable visibility in both directions.  Various other crossing points have been considered, but are constrained.  For example, a crossing between the Spar and the Bakery has very restricted visibility round the corner to the left when crossing from the Spar.  There is also a step down from the road to the pavement along the section outside the Spar with the barriers, which make it very difficult to install an accessible crossing.

It may be possible to install a crossing point further east along Stirling Road (e.g. near the Drymen Inn), or possibly further south down Main Street (e.g. somewhere near the south end of the square).  However, looking at how pedestrians currently use the area, it is likely that they would be too far away from where people want to cross, and so would not be used.

Question 9: Would it be possible to put further details of meetings?

We have previously put the November 2022 consultation presentations on the Drymen website, and highlighted them on the Drymen Community Facebook page.  The project has also been covered in the Drymen Reporter and in emails to DCDT members.  We have also delivered flyers about the project to all houses in the village.

We will ensure that the relevant information is still accessible on the Drymen.org website and provide links on Facebook.

We plan to have another consultation on the project in August 2023 and will ensure that it is widely promoted.

Question 10:  How long will the trial last for?

The trial is designed to last until early 2024.  A third traffic speed monitoring campaign will be undertaken in January 2024 (6 months after installation) to assess the effect of the trial on traffic speed.  This data will then be analysed and reported back to the community.  Further community consultations will also be undertaken and reported on.  At this point the community will decide whether any aspects of the trial should be made permanent in the future (which will also be dependent on finding grant funding).

However, the progress of the trial will be kept under review and if it is judged to be unsuccessful before that time it can be removed.  However, should the trial finish early it will become more difficult to lobby and raise grant funding for future safety features such as pedestrian crossings in the centre of the village.

Question 11:  How was the project funded?

We received grant funding from the Road Safety Trust to carry out the trial. They are supporting this as they believe that it will be make a positive difference to road safety in the village, and will also give them important data on soft traffic calming, which has already proved elsewhere to have a positive impact on the reduction of traffic speed.  See further information here:

Stirling Council spent a day installing the lines, at their cost.  The planters were donated by a local distillery and planted by volunteers.  The majority of the grant funding has been used to cover the design costs and the traffic speed monitoring campaigns.

Question 12:  How will the lines be removed if it is deemed not to be suitable? 

The lines are removed by being burnt off using a gas torch.  This is a very quick process and can be done in a few hours.

Question 13: What are the measures of success for the trial?

There are two aspects which the trial hopes to address:

1. Reduction of traffic speed through the village.  We undertook traffic speed monitoring in January 2023 before the introduction of the 20mph limit, and in June 2023, after the introduction of the 20mph speed limit but before the installation of the Road Safety Trial.  We intend to undertake another monitoring campaign in January 2024, six months after installation of the trial layout.

If we see a significant reduction in the average speed of the traffic, or a reduction in the number of vehicles exceeding the speed limit, then this would be regarded as successful.

2. Pedestrian safety around the square, and in particular crossing the main road.  Consultations with the community would inform us of whether people found it easier and safer to cross from the square over to the Spar side of the road.  This is likely to be undertaken via public meetings and an online survey.