¶ HAS20 Road Safety Issues
Update:
The HAS20 Re-consultation included a modified plan for Station road but it is still not clear if it is now an actual proposal or still just recommendation. The modifed Plan contains false information about the achievable road widths on Station Road at the narrowest point and at the location of the proposed uncontrolled crossing.
The information highlighted on this site about the HAS20 development cleary shows that road safety has not been properly addressed by the applicant.
Promises made in the Development Brief which was "Endorsed" by the council on the 15th of December are missing from the Outline Planning Application, which was actually submitted to the council before they had even considered and "Endorsed" the Brief.
¶ Main Issues
The most significant issue is the lack of any actual proposals for Station Road and the Railway Bridge. (only "recommendations" have been included, for somebody else , presumably the Council, to pay for and implement)
This route is already dangerous for pedestrians, children who use the train to reach the Upper School often have to walk in the road due to the very narrow footways over the railway bridge and along the length of Station Road up to the crossroads.
The location of the new school will result in this narrow route becoming significantly more congested by both pedestrians and vehicles, presenting a serious safety risk. This will be exacerbated by the proposed traffic calming under the Westoning Road bridge.
This route will be the preferred walking and driving route to and from the new school for children and their parents who live in the southern side of the village. This will obviously greatly increase the amount of conflicting traffic, creating a very dangerous situation by forcing greater use of the roadway by Children and parents.
Due to the lack of a footway along both sides of Station Road, to reach the new school, Children and parents (some with buggies) will have first to cross Station Road by the parked cars outside the cottages, then cross the entrances to both Station Yard and the Train Station (on the bend) and then back across Toddington Road further down using the proposed "Puffin" crossing situated next to the secondary site access and in between 2 blind bends.
The safety of any future residents and children from the new housing development also need to be considered, all of the village amenities will be accessed via the Toddington Road / Station Road as this is by far the shortest route.
[OPINION] All of these issues demonstrate an unacceptable public safety risk and the planning application should not be approved without this being addressed.[/OPINION]
It is important that as many residents as possible present their objections to this application in order to help ensure that the future safety of children and parents is not ignored. Information on how to object is here.
[OPINION] It is very important that these safety issues are properly considered by CBC Planning when determining this planning application. The decisions made will have direct real world consequences on the lives of residents, particularly the children who attend the schools or live in the village as well as other road users. [/OPINION]
¶ Detailed analysis of Road Safety Issues
¶ Station Road
View of Station road from the village Cross roads, note the pedestrian walking in the road in the distance:
View further down Station Road showing the railway bridge approach, pedestrians are often forced to walk in the road, especially at this point.
View from the required crossing point. Vehicles generally approach fast and only slow down if there are oncoming vehicles.
View from the railway bridge end of Station Road showing the author's child on the way to the existing lower school. Vehicles are forced very close to the kerb when avoiding oncoming traffic. It can be seen here that it was possible for the driver to leave some space.
Example of Pedestrians using the road, even when there are no pedestrians walking in the opposite direction.
It can be seen from the above examples that conflicting pedestrian walking directions along very narrow footways will result in pedestrians having to use the road. The road is narrow and is busy even outside of rush hours, thise are accidents waiting to happen.
Note the 7.5 tonne "goods vehicle" weight restriction over the railway bridge, the traffic calming under the westoning road bridge will encourage more HGV drivers to use this route. (note buses are exempt)
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