Agenda item

Concerns and suggestions raised at the meeting included the following:

• Ward Councillor, Tony Eginton, represented the Ward.
• During the 37 years some petitioners had lived in North Avenue the road maintenance had been very minimal.
• During winter the rain freezes and hazards are caused, access to drives blocked/hazards.
• Pavements in poor conditions and temporary repairs were no good.
• Mobility scooter users were forced into using roads instead which is very dangerous as pavements were in bad conditions.
• The petitioners requested speed bumps in North Avenue and Wheatley Crescent and commented that there were very narrow roads.
• In the past year three times speeding motorists had knocked people down.
• Their primary concern was safety.
• Those with physical difficulties had trouble getting around, they had trouble going on the road and path and this meant they could not go and visit others.
• According to police records no serious accidents had been reported. Petitioners were concerned on whether they were waiting for a serious accident before doing anything.
• Emergency vehicles use Central Avenue.
• Ward councillors supported the petition, they had been seeking the 20mph speed limit. This was only applied in Central Avenue. The adjourning roads had narrow roads, therefore was more risk.
• North Avenue and Whealtey Crescent are particularly bad roads in comparison to the rest of the borough.
• Such bad road does not encourage cyclists and therefore healthy living, also more cyclists would mean cars drive slower.
• They had requested dropped curbs and had no response so far.

Councillor Keith Burrows listened to the concerns of the petitioners and responded to the points raised. 

• Police Records: KSI figures looked at over the last 3 years, these looked at those killed or seriously injured. Police database does not record minor bumps.
• On an annual basis every road throughout the borough was reviewed under the United Kingdom Pavement Management System. Based on that report neither of these 2 roads were very high on that list as far as structural damage is concerned.
• Hillingdon Council had a policy where they do not use humps. They could use ‘tables’. Have had this policy for a number of years.
• The petition clearly said there is a speed issue. The Cabinet Member stated that it can be difficult to judge a speed of a car. This can be correctly measured.
• He was posing to look at the area in 2010/11 subject to funding for the 20mph zone. The Cabinet Member would expect a great number of petitions for this 20mph zone when it comes into place.
• The Cabinet Member explained that there is a programme that the Council had to follow: what UKPMS tell us to, and looked at those roads they tell us to first. Then any further funding to be used elsewhere.
• A classified traffic volume and speed survey be carried out. This can tell us the type of vehicle, speed, etc. Once this report comes back to the Cabinet Member it will be discussed with him and the officer. The Ward councillors will then be reported back and then to Mr Cox as lead petitioner.
• The Cabinet Member and officers discussed with the petitioners where strips to survey vehicles would be best placed.

There are several residents that had brick paved their front garden and so simply drive over the curb. People have put concrete down. The footpaths are not strengthened.

Possibility for funding in 2010/11 does not mean they will not do anything until then. Work is still being done.

UKPMS report had come through recently, and the Council had approximately 410 miles of road and £2.5 million budget.

Can discuss with school if travelling with the school is an issue. As this may impact onto neighbours. There is a school travel plan.

Andy Cod, officer, is having a meeting with Minet School.

Resolved - 

That the Cabinet Member:

1.      Noted the petition and listened to the concerns of the petitioners;

2.      Noted that officers had carried out a detailed assessment and that they recommended that the carriageways be resurfaced during a future programme.

3.      Noted that similarly, the footways had been assessed and would be included in a future programme. Officers were asked to explore possible resources to fund this work.

4.      Instructed officers to undertake a classified traffic volume and speed survey and report back to the Cabinet Member. This survey would be carried out in September when school re-starts.

Reasons For Recommendation

The existing carriageway surfaces had deteriorated to the extent that shallow fretting had taken place throughout the entire length of North Avenue and Wheatley Crescent. The failure was due to the natural ageing of the bitmac surface, which slowly disintegrated after an estimated life of 30 to 40 years. Past patching had filled some of the worst fretting but only as a temporary measure. The extent of patching that had been carried out had a detrimental effect to ride quality, particularly for cyclists. Resurfacing would of provided a smoother, safer riding surface, maintained the asset value of the highways and improve the visual aspect of the streets.

The footways in North Avenue in particular were in a poor state of repair but this had been exacerbated by the residents driving their vehicles over a footway which had not been strengthened to take their vehicles. The footways in Wheatley Crescent required some normal, patching type, maintenance work.

Alternative Options Considered

Officers considered that the carriageway surface is now beyond normal patching repair and that resurfacing was the only option available.

The footway in North Avenue needed reconstruction to eliminate the additional hazards created by residents due to their use of the footway as a vehicle access route and the change in levels caused by resident’s new private paving. Patching would not eliminate these hazards.

Relevant Ward:

TOWNFIELD