Description: An example of this can be seen in the small village of Latton which was implemented in March 2004.  The 800m scheme led by Wiltshire County Council had a total cost of approximately £40,000 and included collaboration with stakeholders including the Parish Council. 

Issue: In some sensitive areas, in both urban and rural locations (including Latton), the streetscape has suffered from an over use of white lines.  In areas of historic importance these can have a detrimental effect on the character of the environment. Through recent studies and pilot schemes, proposals have been put forward to reduce the amount of white lines.

Strategy:

The main aim of the scheme was to reduce traffic speeds in order to improve the perception of safety throughout the village.

The main aspects of the scheme included:

• Removal of centre white lines
• Providing stone gateways where speed limits are reduced from 40mph to 30mph
• Creating build outs with planting to develop new parking bays on opposite sides of the carriageway
• Improving the main junction, which included repaving
• Improving pedestrian crossing by using buff coloured carriageway surfacing near the main junction and bus stop
• Providing new bus bay and shelters
• Redefining current lighting.

Outcome: Resulting vehicle speeds fell by around 8 mph and the study concluded that removal of the centre white line can increase the perceived need for drivers to take greater care and reduce speed. It also demonstrated that the use of other road enhancements (pedestrian enhancements, seating etc) reinforced the message.