New road safety features are set to be installed at a Kenilworth junction, stemming from funding provided via HS2.
Casualty reduction schemes will be implemented in other areas in the community, being paid for via the second round of HS2 Road Safety Fund payments. The cash will also be forthcoming to pay for various items such as the village gateway signage and feasibility studies.
The Warwickshire County Council has made £8.045m available to be spent on road safety in designated locations that are closely associated with the route of the railway, with nearly £600,000 being earmarked in total.
An earlier HS2 RSF round of spending has led to funding analysis, which has identified a number of places where a small amount of funding could result in a significant improvement in accident and casualty numbers.
The largest chunk of distributed cash will be seen in Southam, as a new 20mp speed limit, school safety zone accompanied by road markings on sections of Welsh Road. A new 40mph speed limit will also be introduced as a buffer zone, situated further along the same stretch of road that links the town to Priors Marston.
An adjacent scheme will see works being conducted on Leamington’s Sandy Lane roundabout, which will consist of new lightings, signage, and resurfacing work. These will equate to a cost of around £50,000, with junction warning signs at the Windy Arbour/Leyes Lane intersection in Kenilworth.
The application for funds was approved by Cllr Wallace Redford (Con, Cubbington and Leek Wootton), the county council's portfolio holder for transport and planning this week.
A report accompanying his announcement explained that funding will be available until 2026 and that projects should 'leave a legacy of road safety improvements'.
It added: "It has become apparent during this first stage of the construction phase of the HS2 project, that a massive impact on local communities is being felt. Not least when road closures and other traffic management diverts traffic through communities. Communities are concerned about traffic volumes and in some cases speed of traffic through residential areas."
Long Itchington, Bascote, Hunningham, Offchurch and Cubbington will all receive funding for village enhancement schemes while £100,000 will go towards the design and construction of the stretch of cycleway.
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