Agenda item

Councillors George Cooper and Ray Graham attended the meeting and spoke as Ward Councillors in support of the petition. 

Concerns and suggestions raised at the meeting included the following:

·         The petition organiser tabled a document illustrating the road safety issues caused by traffic from Park Road using the adjacent roads as a rat run and advised that this sometimes extended from 4pm to 7pm.  This had resulted in vehicles racing and cutting the corner at the duck pond;

·         It was suggested that emergency vehicles were hampered by the current situation and pollution was increasingly becoming an issue due to cars being stuck in traffic;

·         The speed and volume of vehicles was becoming increasingly hazardous for pedestrians, especially in low light, as there were no pavements in North Common Road;

·         As the local schools held after school clubs and revision sessions, the students were leaving school around rush hour and would be using North Common Road at this time;

·         There had been numerous accounts of near misses where vehicles had overtaken on the bend and been on the wrong side of the carriageway when there had been oncoming traffic;

·         If a vehicle broke down on Park Road this caused chaos with more traffic using North Common Road as a cut through to avoid the tailbacks;

·         Petitioners requested that the Council implement measures such as access controls, speed restrictions or a portable speed camera.  Any solution implemented should also address the vehicles speeding round the corner by the duck pond which might require a redesign;

·         North Common Road had never been intended to carry large volumes of traffic so was quite narrow.  It was recognised that the pinch points were controlled by the Department of Transport;

·         As the volume of traffic on Park Road was increasing, it was natural for drivers to seek a shortcut.  It was suggested that vehicles being prohibited from exiting from North Common Road onto Park Road would resolve the problem of rat running;

·         The traffic in this area had become a major problem and it was suggested that a creative solution to provide radical change was needed to alleviate the impact on residents; and

·         Although it had been suggested that drivers at the junctions of North Common Road and South Common Road be prohibited from turning left onto Park Road at peak times; it was recognised that a similar arrangement in Northwood was being largely ignored by drivers.  As an alternative, it was suggested that South Common Road be made one way so that there was no access from Park Road.  However, it was recognised that this would be a little inconvenient for residents.  

Councillor Burrows listened to the concerns of the petitioners and responded to the points raised.  Although there had been no information included in the report, Councillor Burrows asked officers to check to see if there had been

The petitioners were invited to indicate on a plan the location of traffic speed and volume surveys which would be undertaken as part of further investigations.

These traffic surveys would record the number and types of vehicles as well as the day, time and their speed and would be undertaken by an independent company and conducted at a time that did not fall within any school holiday periods.  Once the data had been received, it would be analysed and used to support any decision made as to how the issue could be progressed.  Councillor Burrows would share the results with the Ward Councillors. 

As the petitioners had raised the issue of road safety around the duck pond, Councillor Burrows asked that officers specifically investigate this matter further and report back to him.

RESOLVED:  Meeting with the petitioners, the Cabinet Member:

1.         listened to their concerns with "rat running" in North Common Road and South Common Road, Uxbridge;

2.         asked officers to undertake traffic surveys, at locations agreed by the petitioners and then report back to the Cabinet Member; and

3.         asked officers to look at the corner referred to by petitioners at the duck pond and undertake further investigations regarding road safety to make improvements and report back to the Cabinet Member. 

Reasons for recommendation

The Petition Hearing will provide a valuable opportunity to hear directly from the petitioners of their concerns and suggestions. 

Alternative options considered / risk management 

None at this stage.