The Boy’s Grave junction, near Kentford and Moulton on the B1506, is dangerous and requires better signage to warn heavy goods vehicles and cars. There have been a number of collisions there and the road is only getting busier — see local media coverage of this issue from late 2024 below below.
So Nick Timothy MP has written to Suffolk County Council to ask about the progress on securing more visible markings. In a response, which can be seen below, the County Council says work on these are scheduled to be complete by 20 June 2025.
And, over the past few years, the Parish Council in Moulton has funded resident and traffic surveys to monitor vehicles passing through the centre of the village. They were spurred to take action because of constant speeding. This is very concerning, especially because of the presence of the primary school and the danger to children. You can see a report on this, published in the East Anglian Daily Times on 28 April 2025, below. For an electronic version of the article, please click here.
The surveys funded by Moulton Parish Council showed that the residents of village are keen for action to tackle speeding.
So Mr Timothy’s letter to Suffolk Highways also voiced support for the parish council’s request for possible traffic calming measures and a look at speed limits.
He has taken similar action on behalf of other communities — including Posingford, Wickhambrook, Kentford, Higham and Holywell Row — to highlight the need for road safety improvements.
To read his letter, please see below.
3 April 2025 Nick Timothy MP to Suffolk Highways re traffic issues in Moulton and Kentford areaDownload
Suffolk Highways responded to Nick’s letter on 10 April 2025. The text of the response can be found below.
“Thank you for your email dated 3 April concerning speeding issues in and around Moulton, along with the attached resident survey/speed limit request from the Parish Council.
The enhanced signage to the “Boys Grave” crossroads were unfortunately delayed due to issues with traffic management requirements; the original plan was to carry out this work under a single set of 4-way traffic lights. Due to the distances on the ground, this was not possible, so the works had to be rebooked using 2 x sets of 2-way lights and 1 x set of 4-way lights -which as you’ll appreciate, complicated the logistics of the task somewhat.
I’m pleased to be able to report that this has now been raised with Suffolk County Council’s (SCC) contractors and has a current date scheduled on or before 20/06/25.
SCC will of course attempt to expedite this, if possible.
SCC, and in particular, the Community Liaison Engineer (CLE) has received multiple emails, online reports and telephone calls from Moulton Parish Council and residents with speeding concerns in the village and immediate surroundings, but the CLE is not aware of a request for a speed review from December of last year. The only matters he can recall from that time were around the site meeting at the Boys Grave crossroads.
If Moulton PC has the details of the date this was sent, who it was sent to or any reference numbers etc, the CLE is happy to look into this and chase the response (or provide one if this has been overlooked).
Moulton Parish Council has previously requested a speed limit change on Moulton/Newmarket Road. This was to either extend the existing 30mph limit or to introduce a 40mph buffer between the start of the village, proper and the cluster of properties at the top of the hill towards Newmarket.
This request was fully investigated, and a formal speed limit report was produced by Suffolk Highways for this and ultimately, SCC denied this request. The final decision from this is copied below:
“Noting this recommendation is finely balanced, it is not considered that the case for reducing the speed limit has been fully demonstrated. It is noted that the Police have concerns over poor compliance. With the lack of frontages, even with additional signing, there would still be a significant length going through open countryside without sufficient visual clues to signify a lower speed limit is appropriate. It is therefore not felt that a reduced speed limit can be justified in this location.”
If the Parish Council wished to investigate the possibility/potential of a 20mph zone within the village centre as suggested in your email, I’m afraid they would have to begin the review process afresh. This would require multiple speed surveys within the areas under consideration as well as a new formal speed limit report.
These reports are produced by the speed limit panel at Suffolk Highways and comprises of members of SCC’s Safety and Speed Team and Transport Strategy Team, as well as input from local officers, Suffolk Police and 2 SCC Cabinet Members.
They review multiple aspects of all speed limit change requests, including (but not limited to):
- Road(s) type, geometry and physical environment/appearance – including junctions/footways and other features of the highway.
- Development, number/type of properties adjoining the carriageway.
- Speed/traffic surveys.
- Collision/Incident data.
- Parish and Residents comments/views.
- Comments/views from Suffolk Police.
- Summaries/Conclusion
- Ultimate decision from the Portfolio Holder and Heads of Transport Strategy/Safety and Speed departments.
The area in question as described in your email: “…from the primary school in the north of the village (at the junction of Kennett Road and School Road), down Chippenham Road and The Street to Church Road in the south, as well as a short section of Newmarket Road…” would require multiple survey points to determine the traffic volumes and speed in the first instance.
The CLE would suggest that Kennett and School Road each receive a survey before the school, a single survey on Chippenham Road, a single survey on The Street towards Church Road, and a single survey on Newmarket Road. The CLE would also suggest adding an additional survey point on Bridge Street to this so that data for the entire of the village centre can be captured, as this will take in all the “through roads”.
Once SCC has this initial data, a speed limit report can be produced using the report from Moulton PC and residents that you have supplied.
The cost of these surveys and the report will need to be identified before this can proceed:
Speed surveys using surface detection radars (SDR’s) cost £415 for the first installation and additional surveys installed in proximity on the same day costing £165. For six survey points in Moulton, the total cost of the surveys would be: £1140.
In addition to this, the formal speed limit report costs in the vicinity of £750 (although some are closer to the £1000 mark).
This does not include any of the costs to physically implement a speed limit change (production/design of the required Traffic Regulation Order, consultations and legal framework, installing new/additional signs and road markings etc). It is tricky to give an estimate of this as all locations vary, however, the CLE would suggest a figure of £8000-£10’000 as a very approximate guide. These costs would also need to be covered as I’m afraid SCC is not able to contribute towards these either in full or in part.
I must offer a note of caution. Funding the relevant speed surveys and commissioning a formal speed limit report does not guarantee that any change in speed limit or additional traffic calming measures would be considered or approved. There is a chance with all these applications and reports that the full process is carried out and the speed limit change is denied – as has happened previously for the report/review on Newmarket Road.
It is of course entirely at the discretion of the Parish Council whether they wish to proceed with this, however. The CLE is more than happy to meet with the PC to discuss this in more detail before they commit to any expenditure if that would be of benefit.”
ENDS
