Hazardous junction: Potters Bank and Elvet Hill Road

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Added by Matthew Phillips

There is very poor visibility travelling west to east on Potters Bank and cars often exceed the 30mph speed limit because there is relatively little housing development on this road. If you want to turn right into Elvet Hill Road it is hard to see vehicles travelling up Potters Bank from the roundabout until you are very close to the junction. This places cyclists in a vulnerable situation as you could easily be hit in the rear while waiting to turn right.

If you try to turn right out of Elvet Hill Road to descend Potters Bank, it is also hard to see if anything is coming from the left. This route forms part of the proposed re-routing of NCN 70 through the centre of Durham.

See http://goo.gl/maps/VKpSj for a Google Streetview image showing what it's like to turn right from Potters Bank into Elvet Hill Road.

Given the broad mouth of Elvet Hill Road, there is actually quite a bit of road space available. I think it would make a lot of sense if the up-bound lane of Potters Bank were diverted to swing in to the mouth of Elvet Hill Road, to give a wider turning lane in the middle which could be used for right turns in either direction. Mind you, that still doesn’t help much with turning right out of Elvet Hill Road. Some speed cushions on the approach as you come down Potters Bank might help. Or even fixed speed cameras (which are apparently not used in County Durham at present).

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