Councillor raises catalogue of concerns over proposed one-way system
Monday, 16th December 2013.
Suffolk county councillor Tony Brown is to ask for the proposed one-way scheme in part of Camps Road to be delayed while its effects are more carefully thought through.
The county council plans to bring in an order in January to make Camps Road one-way beside the market square leading out of town, and also to reverse the direction of the Mill Road one-way section.
The move is in response to town council and public calls to enforce the pedestrianisation of High Street. Most vehicles driving there illegally are thought to come down Camps Road.
Cllr Brown says he will be asking the question at the full council meeting on Thursday as to whether the implementation can be delayed until a consultation involving all residents in the most likely affected areas is carried out.
He said: "I am deeply worried that this one-way system could have a very detrimental effect on people's lives in the area.
"Trying to push more vehicles down narrow Victorian streets is not the best solution to the high street problem.
"While I fully support the town council's aim to make our high street a better place I think the county are going about it in totally the wrong way."
He listed his concerns and those of residents he had spoken to, as follows:
. There would appear to have been no consultation with residents or any high street/market traders who will be affected by the proposed order. Only 'main stakeholders' (such as the town council and police) were consulted who, while they may have an interest, will not be affected personally.
The plan is for six months up to a maximum of 18 months but there appears to be no quick get-out clause if things go awry very quickly. It is very difficult to see whether there has been a proper risk assessment carried out on the plan.
Trying to stop traffic going down High Street seems to be just moving the problem elsewhere, including the very narrow Crowland Avenue. For many years it has been promised to the residents this road would be made one-way and this seems to have been abandoned in favour of blocking traffic access to High Street.
While signage may be erected elsewhere this will not stop the GPS leading people still trying to access High Street from the south. Most GPS systems currently available indicate that the way to the north of Haverhill from the bypass is up Burton End/Camps Road and into High Street or Queen Street. They will now be forced up Mill Road into Helions Park Avenue or Recreation Road. None of these streets are designed for high levels of traffic and certainly not the potential for a 44-tonne HGV trying to navigate through there. This is regardless of the urgent need to resurface Mill Road now.
Moving the loading bay outside Gurteens would appear to make the entry into/exit from their premises virtually impossible for any HGV, due to cars potentially being parked opposite.
No allowance has been made for blue badge holders having to drive all the way around the block to get to High Street.
The loading bay alongside the market square is constantly blocked by drivers not doing anything of the sort - especially blue badge holders. Adding a disabled bay on the end will cause untold grief to authorised vehicles using the market square. Market traders trying to approach the square on a Friday and Saturday will now be forced all the way around to now approach from Swan Lane even though their lorries may be parked some yards south of the square.
The introduction of two-way working from the Argos car park back into the Pightle/Lordscroft Lane should be considered to remove the need for additional traffic, particularly HGVs, having to go all the way south to Clements Lane or Crowland Road to then return north.
There apparently has been no response from the ambulance service consultation as to what will happen when one of their vehicles heads north along the southbound only section of Camps Road and comes across a vehicle heading into them, or worse still, a pedestrian walking across the road not expecting a vehicle to be coming from the wrong direction.
To date there appear to have been no proper traffic surveys carried out such as obtaining type and number of vehicles travelling south in Swan Lane or north/south in Camps Road and where they go to, at various times of the day and during different days of the week. The assumption is that the restriction is needed to reduce the number of vehicles going along High Street. The county council seems to have accepted this argument from somewhere but in fact the requirement is to remove illegal parking on pavements and double yellow lines by unauthorised vehicles/persons.
Reducing vehicles going down High Street, if that is the intention, for 168 hours every week seems to be a massive use of a very big hammer when the road is shut (but non-gated) to non-authorised traffic for only 30 hours, ie 18 per cent of the time.
The solution, and probably cheaper option, is to recruit the use of a dedicated traffic warden for the 30 hours, when needed, as was the case a few years back when the town never had any traffic problems.
The county council plans to bring in an order in January to make Camps Road one-way beside the market square leading out of town, and also to reverse the direction of the Mill Road one-way section.
The move is in response to town council and public calls to enforce the pedestrianisation of High Street. Most vehicles driving there illegally are thought to come down Camps Road.
Cllr Brown says he will be asking the question at the full council meeting on Thursday as to whether the implementation can be delayed until a consultation involving all residents in the most likely affected areas is carried out.
He said: "I am deeply worried that this one-way system could have a very detrimental effect on people's lives in the area.
"Trying to push more vehicles down narrow Victorian streets is not the best solution to the high street problem.
"While I fully support the town council's aim to make our high street a better place I think the county are going about it in totally the wrong way."
He listed his concerns and those of residents he had spoken to, as follows:
. There would appear to have been no consultation with residents or any high street/market traders who will be affected by the proposed order. Only 'main stakeholders' (such as the town council and police) were consulted who, while they may have an interest, will not be affected personally.
The plan is for six months up to a maximum of 18 months but there appears to be no quick get-out clause if things go awry very quickly. It is very difficult to see whether there has been a proper risk assessment carried out on the plan.
Trying to stop traffic going down High Street seems to be just moving the problem elsewhere, including the very narrow Crowland Avenue. For many years it has been promised to the residents this road would be made one-way and this seems to have been abandoned in favour of blocking traffic access to High Street.
While signage may be erected elsewhere this will not stop the GPS leading people still trying to access High Street from the south. Most GPS systems currently available indicate that the way to the north of Haverhill from the bypass is up Burton End/Camps Road and into High Street or Queen Street. They will now be forced up Mill Road into Helions Park Avenue or Recreation Road. None of these streets are designed for high levels of traffic and certainly not the potential for a 44-tonne HGV trying to navigate through there. This is regardless of the urgent need to resurface Mill Road now.
Moving the loading bay outside Gurteens would appear to make the entry into/exit from their premises virtually impossible for any HGV, due to cars potentially being parked opposite.
No allowance has been made for blue badge holders having to drive all the way around the block to get to High Street.
The loading bay alongside the market square is constantly blocked by drivers not doing anything of the sort - especially blue badge holders. Adding a disabled bay on the end will cause untold grief to authorised vehicles using the market square. Market traders trying to approach the square on a Friday and Saturday will now be forced all the way around to now approach from Swan Lane even though their lorries may be parked some yards south of the square.
The introduction of two-way working from the Argos car park back into the Pightle/Lordscroft Lane should be considered to remove the need for additional traffic, particularly HGVs, having to go all the way south to Clements Lane or Crowland Road to then return north.
There apparently has been no response from the ambulance service consultation as to what will happen when one of their vehicles heads north along the southbound only section of Camps Road and comes across a vehicle heading into them, or worse still, a pedestrian walking across the road not expecting a vehicle to be coming from the wrong direction.
To date there appear to have been no proper traffic surveys carried out such as obtaining type and number of vehicles travelling south in Swan Lane or north/south in Camps Road and where they go to, at various times of the day and during different days of the week. The assumption is that the restriction is needed to reduce the number of vehicles going along High Street. The county council seems to have accepted this argument from somewhere but in fact the requirement is to remove illegal parking on pavements and double yellow lines by unauthorised vehicles/persons.
Reducing vehicles going down High Street, if that is the intention, for 168 hours every week seems to be a massive use of a very big hammer when the road is shut (but non-gated) to non-authorised traffic for only 30 hours, ie 18 per cent of the time.
The solution, and probably cheaper option, is to recruit the use of a dedicated traffic warden for the 30 hours, when needed, as was the case a few years back when the town never had any traffic problems.
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