12 Solihull locations revealed for speed cameras
They've been identified as areas of concern
Twelve locations in Solihull have been identified as speeding hotspots, with mobile speed cameras set to be deployed by police this year. Solihull Council met last week to discuss how to best use mobile speed cameras in order to reduce casualties in these problem areas.
The twelve roads, dubbed community concern sites, are selected on the back of collision data as well as regular complaints, petitions and enquiries from members of the public. Some are already visited by mobile cameras or have fixed yellow camera boxes set up, while others are new to the programme.
Mobile speed cameras are white transit vans used by the police that park up in hotspot speeding locations for a morning or an afternoon. These are not to be confused with the yellow average speed cameras at the side of the road or the hand-held laser guns that neighbourhood police teams use.
Head of highway management at Solihull Council, Paul Tovey, said the technology within the yellow average speed cameras has been redundant for six or seven years. He added the camera boxes remain at several sites in order to deter speeding and remind people of the law.
The twelve locations for mobile speed cameras going forward in order of priority are:
A452 Collector Road (between Birmingham Road and Water Orton Road overbridge) – existing mobile speed camera A452 Kenilworth Road (between Meriden Road and Park Lane) – existing fixed speed camera A45 Coventry Road (between Damson Parkway and Clock Interchange) – existing fixed speed camera High Street, Solihull Lodge – proposed new mobile speed camera Warwick Road, Olton (between Richmond Road and Buryfield Road) – existing mobile speed camera Damson Parkway (by Solihull Moors FC), existing mobile speed camera Streetsbrook Road (between St Bernards Road and Broad Oaks Road) – existing fixed speed camera Chelmsley Road (by John Henry Newman College) – proposed new mobile speed camera Blossomfield Road (by Solihull College) – existing fixed speed camera Warwick Road, Chadwick End – existing mobile speed camera Kenilworth Road, Knowle (by Canal) – existing mobile speed camera Four Ashes Road/Box Trees Road (between Earlswood Road and railbridge) – proposed new mobile speed camera The sites were chosen as priorities out of a possible 49 that were looked at by officers. Due to the limited number of vans available in the West Midlands, officers said it was not possible to send them out to all 49.
Mr Tovey said: “For about 15 years we’ve had four vans that operate across the West Midlands spent at sites where there has been a recent collision history. It’s normally two or three visits per month into the borough to community concern sites.
“In Solihull, we’ve had the same 13 sites for those 15 years. We get a number of requests from the community related to speeding issues, so we’ve built those into the evidence base.
“We plan to visit each site around twice a month for a morning or afternoon period. If the police find high levels of contraventions, they will adjust that frequency.”
Cabinet member for environment and infrastructure Cllr Ken Hawkins said: “From my background as a police officer and an investigator for three years in the West Midlands, I take road safety very seriously. I’m a great fan of these speed cameras and average speed cameras.”