Thursday, March 26, 2009
Badger Farm traffic issues and questions
Some issues that come up regularly are the speed of traffic on Meadow Way and Ridgeway and parking at the BF Road end of Ridgeway.
I guess most of us saw the electronic 30 sign in use in Meadow Way for a couple of weeks last year. The City Council has one of these, on a kind of loan from the County Highways Department. This sign has been "on tour" around the district, targetting areas where speeding is common. The theory is that it acts as a deterrent when in place and that people then remember after it has been moved on. The same theory says that if it remains permanently people learn to ignore it. It certainly seemed to work in BF and we've asked for it to come back for a couple of weeks during its next "circuit". In some parts of the district parish councils have clubbed together to buy one of these signs so that they can use it more frequently around their patches. Does anyone think BF Parish Council should do this?
I'm interested in the idea raised on the badgerfarm.info forum for a mini-roundabout at the Ridgeway/Meadow Way/Rooks Down Road junction. This would be a matter for the county Highways people, but I'll raise it with our county councillor Charlotte Bailey. Again I'd welcome views on whether people reckon this would be a good thing.
Together with colleagues Brian and I have been calling for residents to get the right to vote on whether they want a 20mph limit for their own road. With a few exceptions I think it's difficult to drive faster than this in most of the residential roads in BF. Does anyone have strong feelings that particular roads should have legally enforceable 20mph limits?
Parking at the top of Ridgeway seems to be a twice a day phenomenon as parents take their kids to St Peter's or pick them up again. Several BF residents have complained to me about this, with particular concern about buses being forced onto the wrong side of the road. I've had a look during the morning school run, along with the City Council's Highways Engineer and it's difficult to see what could be done other than yellow lines along the top of the road. The chances of getting these enforced would be pretty low. Any ideas gratefully received.
I guess most of us saw the electronic 30 sign in use in Meadow Way for a couple of weeks last year. The City Council has one of these, on a kind of loan from the County Highways Department. This sign has been "on tour" around the district, targetting areas where speeding is common. The theory is that it acts as a deterrent when in place and that people then remember after it has been moved on. The same theory says that if it remains permanently people learn to ignore it. It certainly seemed to work in BF and we've asked for it to come back for a couple of weeks during its next "circuit". In some parts of the district parish councils have clubbed together to buy one of these signs so that they can use it more frequently around their patches. Does anyone think BF Parish Council should do this?
I'm interested in the idea raised on the badgerfarm.info forum for a mini-roundabout at the Ridgeway/Meadow Way/Rooks Down Road junction. This would be a matter for the county Highways people, but I'll raise it with our county councillor Charlotte Bailey. Again I'd welcome views on whether people reckon this would be a good thing.
Together with colleagues Brian and I have been calling for residents to get the right to vote on whether they want a 20mph limit for their own road. With a few exceptions I think it's difficult to drive faster than this in most of the residential roads in BF. Does anyone have strong feelings that particular roads should have legally enforceable 20mph limits?
Parking at the top of Ridgeway seems to be a twice a day phenomenon as parents take their kids to St Peter's or pick them up again. Several BF residents have complained to me about this, with particular concern about buses being forced onto the wrong side of the road. I've had a look during the morning school run, along with the City Council's Highways Engineer and it's difficult to see what could be done other than yellow lines along the top of the road. The chances of getting these enforced would be pretty low. Any ideas gratefully received.
