Sandygate Road markings to be audited in January

The off-centre markings on Sandygate Road will be reviewed by Sheffield city council’s road safety auditors early next year.

The lines were positioned on the newly-resurfaced road with the intention of improving the safety of cyclists being overtaken going up the hill and to slow traffic coming down the hill.

Residents raised concerns over the markings online and at the Crosspool Forum Open a Meeting in October.

Since then Crookes Councillor Geoff Smith has been following it up. He explains: “Transport Planning in the council suggested the marking change as part of Cycle PFI Opportunities and Transport Planning provided the brief for Amey designers. Amey then designed the changes and Amey Road Safety auditors audited the design changes before they were implemented.

“After the Open Meeting I raised this again with the council’s traffic engineers. They informed me that after zone works are complete a zone audit is carried out by Amey’s road safety audit team. They are qualified road safety auditors. The audits comply with national guidance and are specified in the contract between Sheffield city council and Amey.

“This particular zone may not be fully completed until May of next year. So I have requested that, given the public concern, an audit of the Sandygate Road marking change is carried out on its own as quickly as possible, and that the outcome is made public.

“In this instance, as Amey have carried out the first audit, then there is an element of them doing the same thing twice, so this audit will be carried out instead by the council’s road safety auditors who have not had any involvement in the process. This provides more independence.”