Report by the Chairman of the PC Road Safety Committee – dated 19 July 2006
1. The meeting of the RSC due to take place on 4 July was cancelled as a quorum could not be established. The following report is forwarded to the Parish Council for information and updating on various issues.
2. Vehicle Activated Signs. An installation and dismantling trial was conducted on 1 June in Sandford at the “GABS” site in the company of NS Highways and H&S depts. Liz Mapstone from Highways first informed us that they had purchased the wrong signs. The H&S inspector was not happy with the power required to push the sign back up after it had been assembled. This may be easier with the lighter correct signs. This 3 year project continues.
3. Letter from NS Highway Services. A letter from David bailey the Traffic Engineer covers the following points.
a. A38/Sidcot lane traffic light junction. – The resurfacing of the area has rectified the line marking confusion. He will address the signage issue to try and make them clearer.
b. Church Road/Barton Road junction. – Unfortunately there is no sign in the traffic signs regulations which allows a concealed entrance to be shown. He is therefore unable to propose an erection of such a sign.
c. Quarry Road – Sandford. He will instruct his technicians to install street name plates which will show a ‘No Through Road’ symbol at the junction of Quarry road with Sandford Road.
d. Sandford Road/Woodborough Road junction. He will carry out an investigation into the condition and location of the ‘Give Way’ sign and will have the signage amended as soon as possible.
4. The Greater Bristol Strategic Transport Study. There was mention of the Banwell, Sandford and Churchill Bypasses. “The 3 adjacent communities on the A371, A369 and A38 experience local congestion which is exacerbated by the restricted capacity through the village centers. The study examined the impact of a series of bypasses to provide relief to the villages and identified that because the use of bypasses would increase the length of journeys the overall NPV was minus £2m. The scheme was therefore considered to have local rather that strategic merits and was not included in the GBSTS strategy.”
5. Woodborough Drive Project. Information has been received from Ann Harley saying she is making contact with Street and Open Spaces following the departure of Helen Macbean, to progress the idea of “H” markings on the road.
6. Community Speedwatch. I regret to report that our CSW Coordinator, Bill Cordell has resigned. He has done sterling job over the last 6 months but has been continually frustrated by the lack of support both from North Somerset and the Community. He has tried on numerous occasions to recruit new CSW personnel and pressurise NS Council into pushing ahead with the VAS and received no help or progress. I would like to propose a vote of thanks to Bill for his invaluable help.
7. Dunster Court Pedestrian Crossing. An e-mail has been received from Nigel Coram NS Council. “My initial thoughts on the area are that there is insufficient pavement width, there are no pedestrian related accidents, and visibility is poor. I believe that by the installation of a crossing point would increase the likelihood of accidents occurring. The other problem here is that the installation of a crossing comes with zig zags where vehicle drivers are not allowed to park. This would upset the trading premises due to loss of income.” We will continue to pursue this matter.
Steve Bridges
Chairman Road safety Committee