The meeting of the West Area Committee last night was a good one.
This is the first year of the new ‘localism’ system for County Highways, where the County Council provide money for highways improvements and District Councils have a big say in what is done within their borders. Really small stuff – such as repairing potholes – won’t be dealt with by this method. And really big stuff – such as new roads, or even new slip roads – won’t be funded this way either.
This process was like this – the committee went through a whole load of sugegstions and then gave them a priority from 1 to 4 (1 being top priority). The other area committees will do the same. The list will then go to the cabinet , who will make the final decisions…
This was what we agreed
Top Priority level 1
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Traffic Orders (yellow lines etc)
Junction protection yellow lines at the Worcester Road / Leslie Road junction
Junction protection yellow lines at the Essex Close /Warwick Road junction
Junction protection lines at the Fairland Close / Hambro Hill junction
limited waiting restrictions outside the Grange Parade of shops in London Road
restrictions at the Grove Road junction with Grove Court and on the school side
restrictions in Downhall Park way near Salisbury Close and the playground car park.
Pedestrian Crossings
Crossing at Rawreth Lane / Down Hall Park Way junction. (there are already some funds for this)
Tackling Congestion
Rawreth lane / Hullbridge Road junction – purchase of land needs to be agreed, there are some funds for Asda for this
Street Lighting
Bardfield Way / Langham Drive alley
Highways Repairs
repairs to the road and pavements in Little Wheatley Chase
repairs along Church Road
2nd Level Priority
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Pedestrian Crossings
Hullbridge Road, near Lubbards Farm (subject to assessment of likely usage)
3rd Level Priority
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Traffic Orders
an extension to the 30 mph limit zone in London Road
Pedestrian Crossings
Zebra Crossing in Eastwood Road, near Frances Cottee Lodge
Puffin Crossing In London Road , between the EDF and Little Wheatley Chase (subject to assessment)
Footways (=pavements) –
Provide pavement on ‘park side’ of Bristol Close (ECC believe unnecessary, will meet Ron Oatham on site)
4th Level Priority
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Traffic Orders (yellow lines etc)
Rawreth Industrial Estate, across the entrance to Westfield Close
Footways (=pavements)
Provide pavement Daws Heath Road, from end of the 30 mph zone to the A127
Tackling Congestion
Improving London Rd / London Hill junction (ECC believe this would cause more delays)
Three points:
We may have missed out two or three small items that were agreed
A lot of the yellow lines items were given top priority because thye were relatively cheap to do (though may use up a lot of officer time)
We need to see what happens next before knowing if this new system will work well
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Very pleased to see that DPW is getting top priority consideration. Let’s just hope that if and when the lines go in that people actually obey them!
Disappointing that the Lubards farm crossing is not at the higher priority level. Perhaps reducing the limit to 30mph at this point and enforcing it at key times might be a cheaper option if money is so short. Hopefully all those who signed up for this crossing will be able to show it is needed.
Would have been good to have it higher. But the priority one items for the west area are either ones that are relatively cheap to do (e.g. the traffic orders) or already have some funds allocated for them. The Lubards farm crossing comes straight after these….
Does anyone know what the current planning notices are for at the DPW/Rawreth Lane junction? Is this for the update to the traffic lights?
I noticed the sheets strapped to some lamp posts, but have not had a chance to walk past and read them.