The following responses from members of the public were reported to the Suffolk County Council "Cabinet" Committee on 16th June 2005 and subsequently posted by SCC on the internet.
Mr Shaws of North Suffolk, a daily commuter to Ipswich via the A140, formally objects to the experiment being made permanent. He is appalled at the gradual decline in the A140 and feels that the imposition of the A140 speed restrictions is ludicrous.
Mr Atkins of Wortham, Suffolk says that since the introduction of the speed limits he has noticed an alarming increase in potentially dangerous incidents that can be attributed to them. He has commented that queues of opposing traffic have restricted him from overtaking. He has also observed several occasions where frustrated drivers have made right turns across traffic when the gap wasn't safe to do so. Mr Atkins feels that the new limits are retrograde step and not the solution to the problems of the A140. He asks the Council to consider removing them as soon as possible.
Mr M Gutsell of Maldon, Essex feels that the speed limits are an unnecessary and often dangerous, over-restriction which prevents sensible speed and progress. He feels that the action is "over the top" and will make no difference to the bad driving of a minority of people. He says the speed limits will result in people becoming exasperated because of delays leading to shunt accidents. He asked that the speed limits are reconsidered and that more effort is put into proper policing.
Mr Coggins, in an email, feels that since the introduction of the speed limits the A140 is the most frustrating and dangerous road he has ever driven. Whilst travelling at the speed limit he witnessed cars overtaking on bends and on the brow of hills and cutting back in sharply. He points out that the A140 is a major route and whilst it wasn't the safest it wasn't the worst. He accepts that there are hamlets that will be safer with the reduction in speed and even safer with a bypass. He knows that this is an expensive option but so is adding 30 minutes to his journey every time he drives to Norwich and back.
Mr Tettelaar of Kesgrave says the speed limits are preposterous and are "a clear example of planners gone potty". He feels that all the Council seems to do is grind traffic to a halt.
Mr Lazell a businessman from Diss has a small fleet of vehicles that regularly needs to use the A140. He formally objects to the 50mph speed limits. He feels that they result in traffic bunching leading to less natural breaks in the traffic flow that reduce the opportunity for safe overtaking and make it difficult to access the A140 from the many side roads. He feels that people will become frustrated with waiting and take chances that will result in more accidents. He urges the County Council to rethink this nonsensical strategy and reinstate the plans to construct a dual carriageway as a matter of urgency. He refers to text in the County Council's "Guide to Speed Policy" leaflet that states "if speed limits are to be respected by motorists then there has to be an obvious reason for those limits" and "Inappropriate use of speed limits could also encourage motorists to ignore speed limits in other areas."
Mr Yeomans of Stonham Parva believes that since the introduction of the speed limits the A140 has become more lethal to travel along. He feels that drivers become impatient and overtake with no consideration and it has become more difficult to join the A140 from side roads because of the continual stream of traffic. He says that the number of emergency sirens heard through Stonham has tripled and this must be due to road accidents.
Mr Walker of Saxham Street, Stowupland feels that the "draconian" speed restrictions on the A140 are leading to increased traffic through Saxham Street. He feels that the road through Saxham Street has always been a rat run for local traffic but it is now attracting vehicles from further afield as drivers look for ways to bypass the A140 speed limits.
Mr Nifton of Norwich considers the A140 speed limits to be unreasonable. He says that he is one of the few people to observe the limits and on numerous occasions motorists driving above the limits have passed him. He has also experienced heavy goods vehicles sitting close to the rear of his vehicle. He says that people access the A140 from side roads without stopping. He says that the County Council has gone to great expense to apply the speed limits and that the "money wasted" would have been better spent on village bypasses or road widening.
Mr Bass of Ipswich, a regular user of the A140, believes that there has been an increase of people attempting to overtake in dangerous locations because of being frustrated by driving in a long slow moving tailback. He feels that a dual carriageway would improve safety on such a road.
Mr Beaumont of Broome, Nr Bungay says that on the few occasions he has travelled on the A140 he has witnessed more instances of dangerous overtaking now than prior to the introduction of the new speed limits. He says that from talking to people and from letters in the press that there is a general consensus that the A140 is worse now than it was before.
Mr and Mrs De'ath of Great Bentley, Essex have expressed concern that the A140 is now a boring and frustrating road. The road leads to tiredness and it is necessary to take more breaks from driving. They have reported that on the way back from a day trip to Norfolk Mr De'ath fell asleep twice whilst driving and Mrs De'ath have to take over. They say that their journey has increased by 45 minutes and that the County Council has made the road "very very dangerous".
Dr Ellis-Jones of Eye feels that the County Council has the responsibility to provide a safe road that can be travelled at the national speed limit and he doubts whether the speed limits represent more than tinkering.
Stoke Ash and Thwaite Parish Council has expressed the view that there would appear to be a much higher incidence of accidents along the A140. This is based on evidence of an almost daily occurrence of emergency vehicle sirens. They report that regular users of the road have reported that much more overtaking and tailgating takes place. They also report that it has become noticeably more difficult to access the A140 from side road junctions. They have asked why the speed limit on the A140 past the Stoke Ash Primary School is 50mph and not 20mph, when they believe the national speed limit past schools is 20mph. (SCC response - this is incorrect)
Thorndon Parish Council feel that the speed limits have not had the desired effect. They say that there have been numerous reports of drivers, frustrated by the new limits, overtaking in dangerous places and that witnesses recount seeing drivers exiting junctions in a reckless manner rather than wait for a gap in the traffic.
Yaxley Parish Council has reported that residents feel that there has been an increase of traffic, and "more alarmingly" heavy goods vehicles, travelling at speed through the village since the introduction of the A140 speed limits.
Mellis Parish Council has reported that there is strong local feeling regarding the speed limit changes. They raised concerns about the creating of queues of slow moving traffic making it difficult to access the A140 from side roads. They feel that there are too many signs which is detrimental to the visual aspect of the rural area and motorist safety and the repeated changes leads to uncertainty for the motorist. They feel that the speed limits have resulted in driver frustration leading to a greater chance of risks being taken. The Parish Council urges the County Council to reconsider the whole length of the A140 with a view to providing traffic calming measures that will allow safe entry on to and exit from the A140.
Miss Waldon, the Chair of Governors at Stoke Ash Primary school, has expressed her thanks to the County Council for reducing the speed limits on the A140. She is however concerned that the opportunity was not taken to introduce a speed limit outside the Stoke Ash school to less than 50mph.
Mr Foster, a businessman of Redgrave, has offered his compliments to the County Council on the introduction of speed limits on the A140. He feels that motorists cannot be allowed to determine their own safe speed.
Mr D Rowley of Diss, in a letter to the press, congratulated the County Council on trying to reduce the number of fatal and serious injury accidents. He does not think it takes a lot longer to drive the length of the A140 in Suffolk.
Mr Rowe of Brockford believes that the 50mph limits have improved traffic flow from Scole to the A14. His experience is that there is less waiting time to turn on and off the road at his property.
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