Letter from BANES

Cllr Deacon has forwarded your email of 6 October 2010 to me, and I would like to respond on behalf of this Authority.

Traffic & Safety Engineers and the Police Traffic Management Unit have long been aware of the traffic issues in Timsbury. As you know, these are mainly related to North Road, which is a narrow, congested road, with narrow footways, or, in some cases, no footways at all, and a lot of on-street parking. As the B3115, North Road carries a considerable amount of through traffic, including coaches and heavy vehicles. Although it is clear that such traffic is undesirable in the confined environment of North Road, there is no suitable alternative route. In response to your notes re improvements identified by the Village Plan:
1.Speed reduction in North Road.
Counts taken in North Road have shown that existing speeds on this road are low, due to the congestion caused by narrow road widths and parked vehicles, and casual observation of traffic confirms this. Introduction of a 20mph limit in this area is extremely unlikely to have any effect whatsoever on driver behaviour, and is therefore deemed to be a poor use of resources. The Police Traffic Management Unit concur with this view. It is recognised that the levels of traffic, combined with the narrowness of the footways, makes the environment unpleasant and sometimes intimidating (especially in association with larger vehicles).
Some years ago a trial was carried out to see if shuttle working could be accommodated outside Tabor Farm, to allow for the widening of the footway there. Unfortunately this arrangement caused gridlock, and was removed as a consequence. At the time it was established that a great deal of on street parking would have to be removed to allow the shuttle to work, and this was deemed unacceptable by local people, who have no alternative parking arrangements. At this time various other arrangements were also considered. Given the width of North Road, any widening of the footways could only be accomplished by reducing the traffic to one lane width. This could be done by: a) Making North Road one way. This would send half the current traffic on North Road onto The Avenue, and South Road, and would be opposed by residents on those roads. South Road itself is a low-quality route which would not be appropriate for the levels of traffic which would be expected to transfer to it. Furthermore, residents of North Road would be forced to detour right around the village to overcome the one way restriction. For these reasons, this option was rejected. b) Installing shuttle traffic signals at either end of the narrow section of North Road. This would be expensive, and would create long delays to traffic waiting at each end, with associated problems of noise and pollution from standing traffic. The delays would encourage much traffic to avoid the shuttle by rat-running through South Road/The Avenue. As noted above, this is not considered acceptable, and would generate much opposition from residents of these roads. On-street parking would also need to be removed to provide space for queuing vehicles; again, this had already been deemed unacceptable by residents of North Road. For these reasons, this option was also rejected. I understand that, at the recent meeting to discuss road safety, it was agreed that representations were made to the shops, to ask that their deliveries be made outside of peak times wherever possible, to alleviate congestion at these times
2. Request for pedestrian crossing(s).
Pedestrian crossings can only be constructed where footway widths are adequate, therefore finding a site where it is physically possible to construct a crossing in North Road may be difficult. Furthermore, the zig-zag markings associated with a crossing may lead to removal of parking, which would again create opposition from frontagers. Notwithstanding the above, any request for a pedestrian crossing, where it is physically possible to accommodate one, will be investigated, and, where numbers of pedestrians crossing/numbers of vehicles passing, suggest a crossing is appropriate, such a proposal will be considered for feasibility and possible funding. One of the sites where a crossing has been previously suggested is at the end of Chapel Walk. Unfortunately, at this site, there is no footway on the south side, and a narrow footway on the north side, which precludes installation of a formal crossing. A school crossing patrol does operate here to aid parents and children on their way to and from school.
3. Footway improvements.
As explained above, options for widening the footways in North Road have been investigated in the past, without success. Conditon of footways can be considered, and if the camber or unevenness are substandard, it may be possible to address this. In summary, as stated above, Officers most certainly recognise the problems in North Road, and are willing to work with the Parish, the local Elected Member, and the Police Traffic Management Unit, to identify areas where improvements are possible, however the lack of an alternative route, the need to accommodate on-street parking, and the physical constraints of this section of road, mean that the available options are minimal. It is, accordingly,  important that all concerned understand the technical limitations surrounding North Road, so that resources can be concentrated on proposals which are technically feasible, acceptable to local people, and will have a positive impact on the village environment.
Peter Dawson
Group Manager
Planning Policy & Transport

Page published on: 31st October, 2010
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