Keeping the fast moving A505 safer

The A505 that runs from Royston in the east to the Abingtons in the west is the busiest single-lane A road in the county. Its our route to work, to school, to shop, but it also carries lorries cutting east from the the A10, M11 to head for places like Felixstowe. Local parish councils have raised with me their concerns about the junctions where minor roads connecting out to local villages intersect.

This isnt a new issue by any means but I have taken this up with the highways team at the county council who have given me some initial views:

- more use of double white lines in the middle of the rosd at the junctions is not - in the enineers' view  - supported because they are supposed to be used when visibility is poor - but actually the A505 for much of its route is pretty straight.

The accidents rates at these junctions has been examined - not huge numbers given the volumes of traffic.

The engineers see this more an issue where those travelling along the A505 do not anticipate vehicles turning on or off of the road at these points. Signing at the junctions and on the eastbound approaches is also less apparent, doing little to make the junctions more obvious.

 

Better maintenance (such as trimming foliage back to highway boundaries etc.)  would help to help improve conspicuity further.

So this isnt about major re-engineering of the route, which would be very expensive, but smaller improvements to make the junctions safer.

 

A short walk down Liberty Lane, Duxford

At the annual Duxford village meeting earlier in the year the issue of the state of Liberty Lane was raised - by mums who use it to get their children to school avoiding the roads. The lane has many access points along so it is a very useful join-up running from Hunts Road east to Mangers Lane.

But if you were pushing a buggy, or had children on scooters or bikes, the state of the path surface makes it almost impossible to make progress. Residents told me that for people in wheelchairs and using mobility scooters the same problems apply.

I have had a meeting with the County and a follow up. If we are successful the work isn't going to happen soon but I am pressing for a start date - it will not be cheap because of access issues i.e. the materials will have to be wheelbarrowed in and the flint wall running alongside protected.

I have asked the school to let the highways department at the county have their views - as much lobbying as possible will help here because the county repairs budget tends to be focussed on roads. 

Hinxton - report for the year and update on Hunts Road

I was happy to confirm to Hinxton parish council last night that the county will dress Hunts Road this month or next as well as fill in the potholes before hand. Also gave an update on the Tour De France which will whizz past Hinxton on the 7 July. Road closures will be from early moprning to mid-afternoon on the main road. 

Here is my report to the parish council for the past year.

Report to Hinxton Parish Council for May 2014

Summary of the year for the AGM 

A year of significant change for the County Council. Moving to committee system in May 2014, with committees for the main areas of activity: health, transport, children etc. Continued challenge facing the county to make savings. The County has, along with the City Council and South Cambs, secured the funding from the government known as the City Deal which will allow major infrastructure investment - in tranches of £100millions.

County finances. The county council set a budget for 14/15, increasing rates by 1.99 per which will see the average band D household’s rates pay an extra £21.89 annually. To protect transport services, an additional sum has been allocated to that area, but given that the council’s Government grant is expected to drop by £30 million – 21 per cent – over the next two years, the county is facing very tough decisions.

Broadband. The junction boxes are being upgraded ready for super-fast broadband (SF BB) to be made available later in 2014 or early 2015 in this part of Cambridgeshire. All suppliers, not just BT, will offer the service, though BT provides the infrastructure. I am the local broadband champion and will take issues to the team at the county as they are raised with me.

Local traffic and roads. I have learnt a good deal about traffic issues from being on the panel looking at parish bids for funding earlier this year under the County's Local Transport Initiative Scheme. The amount of money from this scheme is set to increase and will become the main means by which traffic improvement is managed. So for example if there is an aspiration for improving traffic safety in the village, or doing joint work with Ickleton, this will require early liaison with the police (who may need to see a traffic survey done) and the county highways authority, as well as being able to demonstrate public consultation and backing for the scheme. This would then form a good grounding for a bid to the County's Local Transport Initiative Scheme in late 2014. Hinxton's bid in 2013 was unfortunately unsuccessful, despite a good presentation on the day.

Hunts Road After raising the concerns of unhappy residents, I am pleased to say the County Council has now agreed that it will surface dress the road in the spring with pre-patching where necessary.

I continue to explore with the County how to restrict lorries accessing the village, especially Hunts Road.

Cycleway running down A505 is close to completion. I worked with the highways team to ensure that this cycleway is open to people on mobility scooters too, so not just for cyclists.

Water and Hinxton Ford. A number of drains could not cope under the pressure of the incessant rain in January, and I got the County Highways team to jet them out. The County has done a good job making the railings at the footpath over the ford safe. The route remains accessible to cyclists. 

Streetlighting changes in 2014. I will be checking to see if Hinxton will  lose any of its existing streetlights that belong to the County Council under the agreement that the lights would be upgraded via government funding but that there would have to be a ten per cent across the board reduction in street lights. I have met with officers to assess the proposed impact on local villages. 

Police panel. I regularly attend the police panel which has met at Sawston. In future, the size of area covered by the police panel will be three times as big, which means there will probably be less time available to discuss specific local parish issues.

Playground equipment bid. I was very happy to write letters of support to the funders, AmeyCespa. I have passed on to other parish councils the high quality of the Hinxton bid as a lessons learnt exercise.

City Deal

In the document accompanying the Autumn Statement on 5 December, Government announced its agreement in principle to the Greater Cambridge proposal for a City Deal. Further details of the Deal will be available at the time of the Government’s budget, which is expected in March.  The deal will allow a lot more money to be used on transport improvements in Cambridge and South Cambridgeshire. The thing to watch is whether the government try to increase pressure for more houses to be built in and around Cambridge as a quid pro quo.

County Council governance

The county will move from a Cabinet system to a Committee system during this year.

Gritting

The county council has emailed out the routes for this winter. The route from Hinxton to Ickleton is a blue route and the main road to the Sawston roundabout is a red route, and both get priority gritting. The cycleway will be gritted if there are sub-zero temperatures for a period of a few days, too. 

Cycleways and traffic

Work on the cycleway from Whittlesford to Granta Park will start later in the spring, while the route from Wandlebury to Babraham starts this month. I am trying to get the project officers to see if improvements for cyclists to the routes across the McDonalds roundabout can be included in the works.

The county will consider bids from parish councils for local traffic improvement initiatives  later this month. I will be on the panel. I have been working with a number of parish councils on 20 mph zones and have learnt a good deal about the county and the police approach to the implementation of these schemes. I don't know if Hinxton has considered such a scheme?

Playground bid

I will write a letter of support to the Amey Cespa bid, and hope to learn more at the parish council meeting itself. 

Update notes from the January meeting  and actions for me:

1. ACTION - A bench has been installed on county council land - should they have sought permission? Dont want to have it removed.

2. ACTION - write supporting letter and send to fiona

3. ACTION - follow up re the roundabout improvement re cycleways

Hinxton will be attending meeting on 21st / 22nd to put forward its case for a traffic improvement scheme.

New parish clerk  - Ann

Playground application - Fiona is person making the application

PLAYGROUND on land owned by the PC, PC putting £1,000. PC has adopted necessary policies.

Grant sought - 20 to 40k. they have raised 14k this year. deadline this friday 10th. Decision by following Weds. only for playgrounds or village halls - high chance of securing this. need to describe preferred supplier approach.  all needs to be done very quickly - quality - will last 25 years. parish will provide maintenance as needs be.

4. ACTION HUNTS LANE - damage to road signs from lorries rat-running. Sat Nav - drivers ignore the signs and just follow the sat nav. ACTION - Talk to David Lines - what about a sign at the roundabout? What about Hexcel - are they aware of this? could they pay for a sign? Could the county put a weight limit sign? reduce the usage by through-route traffic.

written to mike cooper 070114

5. ACTION - could there be a 20 mph limit across the backway road to Ickleton - better than - cld the PCSOs do an initial assessment. 

6. ACTION get a briefing from police on 20 mph approach

Tony O - DISTRICTS update local housing plan. - going for inspector review in the summer

district council resetting budget end of February.

 7. ACTION PARK N RIDE - access - to toilets etc - whats happening 

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Hunts Road at Duxford - a spring dressing

Hunts Road gets a fair old pounding as it is the main route through Duxford and on to Ickleton, with lorries as well as cars using it. Despite the traffic calming features, because it is nice and straight people tend to go for it along there too.
Added to this the road is also quite narrow which means that wide vehicles tend to take a few centimetres off the sides, so that the road surface gets eaten into from the sides as the foundations are exposed.
The County Council highways team have been out filling in the worst of the potholes, and will do some more, and then in the spring the whole surface will be dressed.

Ickleton 20mph zone

The police are helpfully saying that they will be very willing to come and talk the parish council through what is needed by way of a speed survey so that the long-running attempt to get a 20mph zone on Abbey Street and Frogge Street can move on apace.

Ickleton and Babraham - roads as rat-runs, roads unmaintained, roads you can't get onto...

In the beautiful villages of Ickleton and Babraham this afternoon, where the consistent issue was the speed and press of traffic using narrow village streets as rat-runs, either to get to Sawston industrial area in the case of Babaraham or to shave some time off an M11/A11 journey by jinxing through Ickleton via Frogge Street.

The road surfaces themselves are not brilliant, and Babraham has real issues with the busy roads surrounding it that make it difficult to get onto or turn off from, especially the A1307, but the main point was the speed of the cars and vans trying to get through these villages, oblivious to polite speed signs. More robust traffic calming and re-routing of HGVs seems to be what is needed.
 

A sharp curve into Ickleton

This is the curve of the road into Ickleton from Duxford. Ten metres further on from where I was parked is the beginning of Abbey Street, a narrow road made narrower by parked cars.

I was there this afternoon on a blustery cold day talking to people in Abbey Street itself - who were asking how to slow cars down as they take this corner in particular, and not to go barrelling down past the pub - which was doing good business - and do a handbrake turn into Frogge Street. So traffic calming is one to think about here.
Even though there was a cricket match taking place by the village hall, it certainly did  NOT feel like late April.

Safe routes to school in Whittlesford

Out in Whittlesford this morning and early afternoon - dodging the showers and occasional hailstones - and had a long talk with a village mum about how best to get children moving about the place safely, including to school, and the play areas and even the shop.

There are many parts of the village where to get from one place to another means crossing an awkward junction with poor sightlines, or a narrow pavement, or no pavement at all.

The junction of Newton Road and Middlemoor is a good example, and if there are going to be new houses at Newton Road we will have to think about innovation - which is where we would need to explore funding options, and get the the road safety experts at the County Council to advise in terms of coming up with safety ideas. Otherwise children just get driven everywhere, don't have the chance to learn independence, and the roads get busier.

Sensible suggestion from a Mum in Whittlesford this evening as I was out talking to people. The warmer and longer days soon bring all the children out on bikes, skateboards etc. 

Enlightened self interest

I took part in the debate at South Cambs District Council's Full Council meeting today over whether locally we should help pay for widening the A14.

This is very unattractive, because like most people, I feel I pay my taxes for things like major roads, so I would prefer not to pay again through the council tax.
But we know that if there isnt a local contribution, then the A14 will not be widened, because the government has said that any such future road schemes will require an element of funding from local councils.
The thing that is holding up the building of Northstowe new town north of Cambridge is the poor infrastructure. The developers won't build the houses without a better road. And if Northstowe isnt built, then the argument for lots of development in and around our villages all comes back again, and the developers dust off the file called Hanley Grange - the 10,000 houses around Hinxton, oppositive Pampisford, that we fought against in 2008.

Rat-runs!

This part of south Cambridgeshire has many small roads, linking villages one to another - but because the A505 is so busy, there is a growing problem of these quiet meandering lanes being used as short-cuts by lorries seeking to shave a few minutes off getting onto the A11 and heading east, or rush-hour motorists fed up with inching along - its something people pointed out to me this afternoon.
It isn't what these routes were designed for, and the road surfaces show the wear and tear.
It's something for the County Council Highways to think through, before we lose these links completely. If you think I'm over-egging, have a look at Beech Lane in Pampisford. You'd lose a wheel or a small child down some of those potholes.

Duxford diary

To the list  of successful local businesses (see yesterday) in the area I must add the delightful and hospitable John Barleycorn in Duxford, where we set up base for a day's canvassing - at the beginning I thought we would be on cool drinks in the sun, but by late afternoon it was hot coffee as the rain clouds gathered in again.
The Hunts Road rat-run and the crumbling road surface featured on a lot of people's agenda, plus the debacle over the Post Office move to the excellent village shop, where it does seem as if local demand and resourcefulness (namecheck Mr Shah) is being frustrated by the corporate Post Office's drive for centralised efficiency. I campaigned to keep Thriplow's Post Office open - and I know the problems Fowlmere are having. As someone said to me in Petersfield: "Are we to have any local services?" 

Hole in the ground

Good to see some investigative work going on by the County Highways engineers as to the drain at Station Road, Whittlesford which has become blocked with mud. We on the parish council asked the district who asked the county to take a look.

When it rains the road near the postbox leading to the station itself is more like shores of some African watering hole.

Station Road Whittlesford will be swept tomorrow, Weds 3 April!

Hopefully by more advanced technology than that used by Cossette (see pic).

South Cambs environment team called me this morning to say that they will put a road cleaning team onto Station Road Whittlesford tomorrow at about 7.15am.

Hopefully with the Easter break, there won't be as many commuter cars there, so thay can get a good run.

Mea culpa, Little Abington!

It was pointed out to me this afternoon by an eagle-eyed reader in Abington that I wrongly assigned the Bourn Bridge Road junction to Great Abington, rather than recognise its rightful place within the bounds of Little Abington.
Its still a busy junction, and you need to be doubly eagle-eyed when pulling out!

Station Road Whittlesford

Since residents complained about the state of this road at the parish council meeting I've been on to the district council, who have tasked a sweeper from the depot to sweep the road, and at the same time got the County to agree to unblock the drain at the bottom of the road. These are the symptoms, but they still needed tackling.
The underlying issue is the mud and silt coming from lorries using the road, and the Highways Depot is considering the evidence compiled at our instigation by the highways engineer. And the recycling yard have said they will sweep the road following a visit from the district environmental team. 
The thing now is to make sure all the above happens, but these are helpful undertakings by the relevant local authorities to keep what is largely a residential road up to snuff.   

The Sandhills of Whittlesford

At Whittlesford Parish Council meeting in March the state of Station Road was raised by residents - not the holes and bumps but rather the silt and mud deposited there by lorries using the road.
In dry weather this produces swirls of dust and grit like something out of a Nebraska frontier town, leading to a number of complaints by local residents.
I contacted the environment enforcement officer at the District Council who passed me on to the highways engineer at the County transport deport on the other side of the railways at Whittlesford Bridge. She has been out and taken photos and confirmed there is a potential offence under the Highways Act.
Now the issue is with the highways supervisor for the area for assessment and decision. We will keep the pressure on to get the road cleaned up and try to get those who cause it to pay for the costs.

Station Road - honey bees and holes in the road

Out in Royston Road and Station Road this evening - issues included the commuter cars parking from six in the morning, through the damage left from the lorries building the new developments (I'll see if the planning people can get the builders to come back and make good) to the noise from the scrapyard (where the parish council is arranging for residents to meet the owner to see if some compromises can be reached.
Also learned about the fate of English bees from the apiarist who sells very fine jars of their honey from the front-gate near the top of Station Road, and I was reminded that we still need BT to come and fix their telephone box after it was vandalised over a year ago!

Two sides of the fence

On one side of the hedge in Newton Road that runs along side the allotments is the village orchard, which has survived the winter thanks to lots of TLC from a small group, and seems set for the Spring.
On the other side is what appears to be a spot of fly-tipping, and we'll need to get it looked into and cleared.

recycling = and a strong road safety message

A very clear message on the district's bins in Newton Road in Whittlesford - this is a bit of a rat-run for drivers trying to get to the A505 and they come hell for leather down this narrow road. Fred Winter and others have complained about it.
So the bins serve a dual purpose - South Cambs recycling rates are very high - and they just might make the drivers think a bit too.