The Rural Road Character project has now been completed. It promoted good practice in rural road design and maintenance, working in partnership with those whose job it is to maintain the transport infrastructure and others. The project aimed to ensure that our roads fit sympathetically into their surroundings, whilst being friendly to all road users, however we choose to travel, be it on foot, by bike, horse, motorcycle, car or public transport.

The project successfully promoted ideas such as psychological traffic calming, which involves making drivers feel less certain, so that they drive more carefully. Measures such as removing the white centre line and reducing sight lines with planting are more in keeping with rural road character and can be very effective in reducing accidents.

Find out more
Download a summary of the report, prepared for Friends of the Lake District, by Capita, that instigated this project Roads at Risk - Saving the Character of Country Road (517KB) download here or see key findings from this research.