Country/RegionUnited Kingdom, England, Buckinghamshire
Location of installationA41 Aston Clinton bypass.
ApplicationNight delineation
Astucia ProductsSolar powered road studs
Project DescriptionThe £25million A41 Aston Clinton Bypass, a 6.3km long new dual two-lane road which benefits local residents and motorists opened on the 3rd October 2003 by Transport Minister Tony McNulty.The bypass will improve safety and reduce congestion through the village of Aston Clinton, moving about three-quarters of the traffic from the village onto the bypass, which carries around 20,000 vehicles a day.
With the fact that Aston Clinton lies on the edge of the Chiltern Hills, which is an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, a number of key environmental factors were a priority during its construction these included: Limited street lighting, only located on the roundabouts at each end of the new stretch of road; the planting of over 152,000 trees, plants and shrubs to line the route; using recycled materials from the old road as foundations for the new and also consideration for existing local wildlife in the area such as newts, badgers and bats.
At the junction of the A41 and College Road North, where no street lighting is employed, Astucia D Series SolarLite™ red unidirectional Intelligent Road Studs™ (IRS) were installed to increase driver awareness of the two extremely sharp bends located at the ends of the exit deceleration lanes, and also the corresponding sharp bend on the northbound access slip road.
With its built in solar powered Light Emitting Diode (LED) the D Series IRS automatically illuminates from dusk to dawn and provides drivers with up to 900 metres of visibility. This is compared to generally around 90 metres from the traditional, retro-reflective, passive road stud which is limited by the headlight beam of the vehicle.
The use of these studs on the A41 enhance driver safety by providing information to them about the road directly in their natural field of vision in an area where it was required to keep traditional, expensive and light polluting, street lighting to a minimum.
BenefitsMalcolm James, collision investigation officer of Buckinghamshire County Council advised: “Since the new stretch of road opened there has not been a single collision at any of the slip roads at the College Road North Junction, despite the severity of the bends at the ends of the deceleration lanes identified as a potential problem at the Stage 3 Safety Audit before the road was opened. I am convinced that the Astucia Intelligent Road Studs have focused the driver's view into the vanishing point of the bend, and thus guiding them safely during hours of darkness off this busy stretch of unlit road, so that where they look is where they go."
