Highway development management survey requirements

Vehicular speed assessments

The Highway Development Management (HDM) team require planning application submissions to be based on robust datasets, namely Pneumatic Tubes or Side Detection Radar (SDR) for a minimum period of 7 days.  Automated speed measurements can reduce the risk of errors, provide greater volumes of data, and can reduce the risk of the results being artificially skewed (due to the presence of a surveyor influencing driver behaviour). By reviewing longer periods of data, greater confidence can be gained of existing traffic flows/speeds at a prescribed location and ensure the impact of any proposed development can be fully understood. 

The survey should be located where the existing/proposed access joins the highway, with equipment being attached to suitable Leicestershire County Council owned infrastructure such as street lighting columns or road signs. 

If there is a lack of suitable infrastructure to collect data at the correct location Hand Radar may be permitted as an alternative collection method, however, please seek advice from the HDM team on the appropriateness of such a survey for any given proposal/location.  The HDM team can be contacted at: HDC@leics.gov.uk.  The team will also want to understand the methodology proposed, specifically how such a survey will be carried out as covertly as possible.

Manual classified counts and vehicle turning movements

Manual classified counts (MCC) and vehicle turning movements are likely to remain as a single day capture but should be deployed alongside Pneumatic Tubes or SDR on at least one link, for a period of at least 7 days covering the date of the MCC to ensure the data is representative.

Neutral traffic periods

The recommended periods for data collection are school term days in February-June and September-November.  The week before and after the holiday period may be atypical and it should be noted that Leicestershire tends to run a week ahead of the rest of the country for some of their school holidays. If you believe a speed based survey could go ahead outside the periods defined here, please contact HDC@leics.gov.uk and NDI@leics.gov.uk to discuss prior to conducting any survey work.

Permits

For all surveys conducted by a third party a Permit request form must be completed and receive approval before any equipment is installed (see wider S50 Permit Process).  Failure to obtain a permit may result in the HDM team refusing to accept the validity of any data collected.

The council has its own Data Collection Team that conducts traffic surveys for both internal and external clients. After engagement with HDM, to commission a survey please contact NDI@leics.gov.uk with your requirements – the required traffic survey permits are generated automatically as part of this engagement.

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Highway Development Management