The A30 in Cornwall is a high-speed dual carriageway maintained by Highways England. Linking London to Land’s End the A30 is a busy route used by holidaymakers and tourists from the UK and further afield.
As such, many drivers using this and the surrounding roads don’t know this area particularly well, especially when looking out for local tourist attractions.
At Fraddon, near Newquay in an easterly direction, there was a particular issue with regards to access and exit from a small retail park that’s home to a hotel, fuel station, several restaurants and a small retail outlet centre that is popular with local residents and tourists alike.
When travelling from west to east, the road bears to the left on an uphill trajectory, where right on the apex to the bend, there is a tight left-hand bend where access and exit to the retail park are attained and the speed limit drops
from 70mph to 30mph accordingly. In the past, there have been several accidents where a motorist has noticed the entry late, has not had the chance to brake sufficiently and when attempting the manoeuvre has literally ended up in the field opposite.
The normal way to alleviate this issue would be to install chevron signs in accordance with Diagram 515 of TSRGD – However, simply installing a conventional chevron would cause significant other issues as motorists leaving the retail park wouldn’t be able to see fast approaching vehicles coming up from the west.
TMP Solutions were asked to look at this problem in September 2016 and the Low-Level Evo-Chev was developed to suit this and other problem sites around the country.
Introducing the Low-Level Evo-Chev
The Low-Level Evo-Chev system is quite unique in that it’s passively safe when struck by an errant vehicle in any direction, is motorcyclist friendly due to its patented return mechanism and also allows motorists a clear field of vision.
The innovative Evo-Chev combines a self-righting bollard base with a polymer sectional blade to display the chevron markings. Passively Safe achieving a rating of 100:NE:4 in accordance with BS EN 12767, the Evo-Chev is safe and durable.
The Evo-Chev is made from a recyclable plastic blade with retro-reflective vinyl panels overlaid to create the sign face.
Chevrons are hazard markers, therefore installed in hazardous locations. We developed the Evo-Chev to be fast and efficient to install. Reducing the installation time reduces the risk to the installation team as well as reducing traffic management costs. The system is delivered in sections, each containing a number of blades already mounted to the base plate. The base plate simply bolts on to the foundation plate that was set in concrete earlier. All the materials are selected for optimum impact performance to suit all seasons in the UK.
Since installation in late 2016, there have been no reported accidents at this site. The Evo-Chev its self needs zero maintenance. Of course, the retro-reflective signage just needing a wipe over now and again like all other signage on our network. No accidents, zero maintenance, reduced installation time prove the solution has been highly effective in saving lives and money.
2017 – No accidents – No maintenance needed
2018 – No accidents – No maintenance needed (up to May 2018)
The main safety saving is the fact there has been no accidents since the installation, you can’t put a price on that. However, you could argue that because there has been no accidents there have been no replacement costs and the traffic management alone could be circa £5,000 for this busy site.
Since this system was originally developed, TMP Solutions have developed it further to allow for quick and easy removal on wide load routes as used in the City of Liverpool near Queensferry Tunnels – again, clear vision of all roads at this busy intersection was of paramount importance to the Engineers and due to the nature of the way it was installed, was extremely quick & easy. In fact, we now offer a variety of fast fit solutions that work with NAL sockets and even competitors existing foundations.
