Agenda item

Councillors Jonathan Bianco, John Morgan and Andrew Retter attended the meeting as Ward Councillors. Councillor Jonathan Bianco spoke on behalf of the Ward Councillors.

For this item there were three petitions submitted, together with another petition signed by children. All the petitions had a range of views on what was thought acceptable to improve road safety and reduce traffic volumes on Gatehill Estate.

Concerns and suggestions raised at the meeting included the following:

Petition from households in every road on the estate with the exception of Ravenswood Park and Woodside Road:

• Any solution to “rat-running” must be estate-wide and must avoid the potential to divert traffic to the other parts of the estate and worsen traffic conditions on other parts of the estate where the roads are without pavements or normal street lighting
• The no-left turn at the junction of Watford Road and Elgood Avenue restricts the movement of the morning rush hour traffic, meets road safety requirements and would produce an acceptable level of convenience
• The pair of no right turns at the junctions of Gatehill Road and Elgood Avenue was initially an acceptable solution but because of the level of objections this could no longer be supported
• Consideration should be given to traffic calming measures in Upper Elgood Avenue to slow the traffic down

Petition from the majority of residents in Ravenswood Parks, but also signed by residents of other roads:

·        To defer the proposal to install no right turns in Elgood Avenue until a full and proper consultation exercise has been carried out involving all residents in the Gatehill Estate and Ravenswood Park

·        The installation of no right turns would inconvenience around 90 residents

·        There were around 137 households who would not be particularly affected

·        That the results of the traffic survey take into consideration the public utility works which were carried out on the road and which may distort the traffic data

Petition from 17 out of 18 households in Woodside Road

• That the original proposal for the scheme to prohibit vehicles from entering Woodside Road from Elgood Avenue be introduced to stop vehicles “rat-running” on Woodside Road
• Drivers were driving aggressively and dangerously which is putting residents, ad particularly children’s safety at risk
• There would only be a minor inconvenience to residents if a “No Entry” sign was erected at the Woodside Road entrance from Elgood Avenue. For residents of Ravenswood Park the proposal would only add 150 metres onto journeys onto Watford Road
• On Elgood Avenue there had been an incident of intimidation from a “rat running” motorist and tailgating had taken place

One of the children who had signed the petition on behalf of children of Elgood Avenue attended the meeting and informed the Cabinet Member that “rat running” motorists made the roads dangerous for the many children who crossed the roads around Ravenswood Park.

Councillor Keith Burrows listened to the concerns of all the petitioners and the comments made by the Ward Councillor. He informed the petitioners that in view of the differing views expressed by residents of Gatehill Estate it was important to find a solution to the “rat running” problem which would address the road safety concerns and provide an acceptable solution for all residents in the area. “Rat running” occurred throughout the Borough and the Council would look to introduce measures which would improve road safety for residents.

The Cabinet Member stated that all aspects of the petitions submitted would be investigated and a full consultation would take place with all residents of the Estate. Details of the traffic survey which had been undertaken would be shared with residents together with the plans and measures officers come up with to alleviate the road safety concerns.

Resolved:

1. That the Cabinet Member notes the petitions and the concerns expressed by petitioners regarding traffic using Gatehill Estate.

2. That officers be asked to investigate measures to deal with resident’s road safety concerns and to identify suitable funding.

3. That, once officers have developed proposals to alleviate the “rat running” problem, these be discussed with Ward Councillors and residents before approval.

REASONS FOR RECOMMENDATION      

It was clear there were concerns with road safety and rat-running through the estate particularly during morning and afternoon rush hours.  Traffic measures that address rat-running were largely successful if they were acceptable to local residents.  These can be identified with petitioners for further detailed investigation by officers within the Road Safety programme.

ALTERNATIVE OPTIONS CONSIDERED

This would form part of the discussion with petitioners.