A crossroads at one of the busiest roundabouts in West Lothian is to have speed limits put on the six roads which converge on it, in a bid to prevent accidents.
Boghead, on the southern fringe of Bathgate, feeds into the town and its neighbouring industrial estate which houses huge retailers including Amazon.
It’s also the main junction for the A801 running up to Linlithgow, Falkirk and the north, as well as linking to the M8.
At the moment all approach roads are set at 60mph, the national speed limit, even though the roundabout is busy throughout the day – particularly at peak times as one of the main feeder roads onto the motorway. The link road to Whitburn is on a straight line parallel to the M8 and frequently sees fast driving.
Following a number of incidents, council roads engineers and police carried out surveys of the area and engineers now say it will be safer if the approach roads have speed limits cut to 40mph.
The six roads served by this junction are rural, however there are two roads that are currently subject to lower speed limits. The A7066 is subject to a speed limit of 50mph and B792 is subject to a speed limit of 40mph.
A report to the Council’s Executive by Roads Network Manager Gordon Brown said: “The speed of circulatory and exiting traffic was higher than desired and the potential contribution to accidents prompted a recommendation to introduce the lower of the approach speed limits at the roundabout.
“This is in line with best practice and is considered an integral part of the scheme to reduce accident frequency and severity at the junction.”
The report noted that Police Scotland had indicated their approval for this proposal.
A formal statutory consultation will be undertaken before the new limit is installed.
Executive councillor for the environment, Tom Conn said: “Concerns had been raised around the roundabout in question following a number of separate incidents. Following due process, it has been recommended that the speed limit be set at 40mph in the hope that this will help reduce accident frequency and severity in the area and make the roundabout and surrounding roads safer for all users.
“Following approval from Council Executive, a statutory process will be initiated with a view to formally introducing the new 40mph speed limit.”
