Reactive traffic signs upgraded across Rutland

The next phase of a traffic speed management upgrade will start in Rutland this summer.

SWARCO was awarded the £390,000 three year contract in 2023 to provide a series of new speed management signs across the county. The first phase was completed last June and now the contractors will be rolling out the next phase in June this year. There will be a final phase the following year with 68 traffic signals across the road network replaced in total, on busy roads including the A47.

Cabinet member for transport at Rutland County Council Christine Wise (Lib Dem) said: “Speeding is a big concern for our rural communities and something we are working hard to address through education, engineering and enforcement.

"The upgraded signage we have put in place with help from SWARCO provides a real deterrent to speeding and gives our residents confidence that we’re taking a proactive approach to road safety in the county.”

The signs feature a programmable speed threshold triggered by radar activation, so vehicles travelling above the threshold activate the live speed display in red, whereas complying vehicles activate the live display in green.

The signs use a radar to detect vehicle speeds and use an energy efficient LED display to clearly show messages to oncoming drivers, as well as being equipped with intelligent internal data logging. The data is stored and uploaded to the SWARCO MyCity remote access platform, providing statistical feedback of vehicle speeds, road usage, and data on the number of activations. This will allow the council to monitor changing driver behaviour.