Agenda item

This item is to:

 

a.     Receive any new petitions: The lead petitioner is entitled to briefly introduce their petition by providing a statement in writing, and a response to any petitions received will then be organised for a future meeting;

 

i)    Dangerous Road (Hexham) E-petition opened for signatures on 22.02.22

 

“The road across the front of Peth Head is supposed to be 20 mph.  It has no signage or speed bumps and is used as a shortcut for traffic trying to access the Corbridge Road.  Traffic drives at speed from morning till night and crossing the road is incredibly dangerous.  Many parents with young children attempting to cross in order to access schools, nurseries or the hospital are left standing in fear for their children.  There needs to be at the least signage, and possibly a safe place to cross as this is no longer a small little back road, but is actually being used as an alternative to the main Corbridge Road.”

 

b.     Consider reports on petitions previously received:

 

i)    Allendale Road, Hexham (attached)

 

c.     Receive any updates on petitions for which a report was previously considered: any updates will be verbally reported at the meeting.

This item was to:

 

a)      Receive any new petitions:

 

i)               Dangerous Road (Hexham)

 

It was noted that a new e-petition had been opened on the Council’s website on 22 February 2022.

 

b)     Consider reports on petitions previously received:

 

i)               Allendale Road, Hexham

 

Tara Wright, Lead Petitioner, thanked the Committee for accepting the petition.  She commented on the report as follows:

 

·        There had been a serious accident during the evening of 10 March 2022 at the location in the second photograph on page 55 of the report.  The accident was currently being investigated but was believed to have involved 3 vehicles with one vehicle driving in excess of the speed limit and had resulted in vehicles being written off.

·        The car had mounted the path and a section of the boundary wall had been demolished next to where the children were walking in the photograph.  If it had been a few hours earlier, there would have been children walking from school.  The path was normally used by dog walkers in an evening around the time of the accident.

·        Hexham Town Council had requested a blanket 20mph around the town to stop the confusion regarding changing speed limits between 20/30/40 mph.  Drivers not paying attention could easily do 40mph in a 20mph zone.  Children involved in an accident were likely to die if hit by a vehicle driven at 40mph but would survive if driven at 20mph.  It was life or death.

·        She was the parent of a child who had been hit by a car driving 19 mph in a 30 mph zone.  This had saved her child’s life although he had still required intensive care.  She did not wish those days on another parent.  However, reducing speed did save lives and she asked that the blanket 20mph be considered for the whole of Hexham or if not, at least for Allendale Road.

·        She did not think drivers paid any attention to the variable speed limit signs or flashing signs as the zones were too small.  If it was a longer distance, it would encourage people to slow down.  20 mph would save lives if an accident occurred.

·        She had been made aware of a few accidents on Allendale Road.  One in September at Whetstone Bridge/Allendale Road junction had not been reported to the police although the child had suffered minor injuries and had required a trip to hospital.  Many incidents where the pedestrian was seen as being at fault had not been reported to the police and were therefore not included within the statistics.

·        Some of the children walking along Allendale Road to Hexham Middle School were only 9 years old with limited road sense.

·        The feasibility of a lollipop person be investigated between Whetstone Bridge and Allendale Road.

·        She was concerned that only funds had only been set aside for preliminary design work and the recommendation that proposals be considered for inclusion in a future Local Transport Plan did not give her hope or confidence as it felt non-committal.

·        The report highlighted serious issues on Allendale Road and without the fast introduction of forcible speed restrictions, such as give way markings or islands, it would not slow traffic down.  There were concerns regarding speeding, the width of the paths and large vehicles passing each other.  If something was not done quickly she feared that there would be a death on this road.

 

The Chair reported that he had received confirmation from the local Sergeant that one of the drivers involved in the recent 3 vehicle accident had been arrested for drink driving.  He agreed to forward the information to the officers.

 

Neil Snowdon, Principal Programme Officer (Highways Improvement), provided the following update:

 

·        The accident in September had been the result of a child being distracted by a mobile telephone and had crossed the road when the lights were on green.  Officers had liaised with the local school to remind children about road safety when crossing roads.

·        Recruitment of school crossing patrol officers was difficult.  They worked limited hours which were quite restrictive, with relatively short durations morning and afternoon, in all weather conditions.  Also due to the existence of the light-controlled crossing on Allendale Road a school crossing patrol would not normally be required.

·        Allendale Road was on a strategic route and it was difficult to prevent it being used by heavy goods vehicles.

·        Traffic calming measures would be investigated to see what was possible for a future LTP programme, although these could be expensive.  They would also consider less costly measures such as improved signage and road markings.  Due to the width of Allendale Road, it was unlikely that a traffic island could be installed, but all options would be considered to see what could be done to improve the position.

·        The school travel plan was having an impact with more students using Tynedale Terrace.  Some students would need to use Allendale Road if they lived on the estate opposite the high school.

 

Many of the members expressed their support for the petition as road safety, particularly at this location, was a concern to many residents.  They, as elected officials, had a duty to look after children.  The following comments were made during a lengthy discussion:

 

·        Speed signage could be improved.

·        The conditions on Allendale Road should be made commensurate with a 20mph speed limit as referred to by the Service Director - Local Services at a previous LAC meeting, otherwise the speed limit would be ignored.  The 20mph advisory speed limit should be replaced with a permanent 20mph speed limit, at least on Allendale Road.

·        The LCWIP had identified Allendale Road as a priority corridor for cyclists and pedestrians and provided an opportunity to slow motorised traffic down and make the road safer for vulnerable road users.  Reference was made to the funding available within the 2022-23 capital programme although it was acknowledged that some of had already been allocated.

·        A further follow up report was required with proposals for physical measures and a timeline.

·        It would have been beneficial if the school transport management plan was circulated to all members with students at schools in Hexham to enable them to respond to queries from parents.

·        The pavement along Allendale Road was extremely narrow in places and methods to keep vehicles off the pavement should be considered, particularly if a route was included in the travel management plan.

·        A number of control measures had been implemented, such as part time 20mph zones and flashing speed measurement signs but physical constraints along Allendale Road restricted opportunities to widen paths and install railings at some locations.  Whilst the aforementioned measures had influenced speeds and road safety, it was felt that given the increased number of students in the area, this was not sufficient.

·        The Town Council considered that a 20mph speed limit across the town was necessary and, where appropriate, a physical narrowing of the road to indicate the change, at locations where this may be appropriate.

·        Clearance of footpaths and vegetation should be carried out on a regular basis.

·        It would be unacceptable for a desktop only exercise to be carried out within the next financial year.

·        It would be beneficial to work with the school and the school children to promote alternative routes as well as slowing traffic to improve road safety on Allendale Road to prevent a serious accident

·        Road safety at this location had been discussed for many years and as traffic volumes continued to increase and it should be treated as a higher priority.  Permanent 20mph zones had improved road safety at other locations.

·        There were nearly 2,000 students at nearby schools with more children travelling across the town since the relocation of the middle school.  Not all children would use Tynedale Terrace.  It was regrettable that the Town Council’s LTP priorities, such as the 20mph zone across the town, pedestrianisation, and a school crossing patrol officer, had been declined/unsuccessful.  Consideration be given to rumble strips, chicanes or a give way.

·        Although Allendale Road was not immediately adjacent to the school, it was an arterial route and it was queried whether it could be considered as part of the 20mph school programme.

·        The LTP programme and criteria be reviewed to enable inclusion of a road safety scheme within the next financial year for this notable accident black spot.

·        The Scottish and Welsh governments were considering introduction of 20 mph across all towns as it was believed to change behaviour.

·        Whilst it wasn’t purely a speed issue, and the data had demonstrated that vehicles did slow down, a 20mph speed limit would establish a safety mindset around the new school.

 

Councillor Riddle, Portfolio Holder for Local Services, commented on the limited availability of funds, however, he agreed to review the programme to see if there was an opportunity to defer another scheme in Hexham to a later year, to prioritise work on Allendale Road.  He referred to the explanation given by the Service Director for Local Services at a recent meeting why officers believed that a blanket 20mph zone would not be observed.  He added that the 20mph speed limit around schools programme was to be completed during 2022-23, where this was feasible.

 

Robin McCartney, Infrastructure Manager, explained the process which officers had to follow when assessing and implementing schemes, the main driver being road safety and a review of police accident statistics over a 15/20 year period.  Near misses were not recorded.  He confirmed that:

 

·        The number of accidents had reduced and the majority of these occurred on 60 mph roads, nationally only 20% were speed related; in Northumberland this was perhaps only 10-15%.

·        Implementation of 20mph speed limits had reduced accidents.

·        Wales and Scotland were introducing a global concept of a 20mph speed limit although there was no documentation which showed a link to road safety issues.  Some local authorities in Scotland had stated they could not afford to implement global 20 mph speed limits in their towns.

·        The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accident guidance stated that 20mph speed limits should only be installed in residential areas, not on through routes, they should be self-enforcing or expensive physical measures be constructed.  If only 10-20% of accidents were speed related consideration be given to other measures as culturally people ‘felt safer’.

·        Allendale Road was historically a bad road and as a strategic route used by HGVs which could not be prevented.

·        Tynedale Terrace was used by the majority of the students and the schools were being encouraged to promote the travel plan.

·        The speed survey results indicated that there were some concerns regarding speeding but not when compared with other roads.  The average was 31mph for 85% of vehicles was below 37mph in semi-rural exits for Hexham.  Analysis of the speeds within the town and closer to schools seemed more reasonable.  It was therefore not obvious from the results that physical measures were required in those locations.

·        Given the concerns of residents and Councillors, consideration would be given to possible solutions when the road safety design team had an opportunity to review all of the information.

·        The photographs within the report of the HGVs passing demonstrated that there was a safety issue.

 

Councillor Riddle commented that the wording of the original petition did not make reference to 20mph.  He explained the LTP Programme process was hopefully going to be reviewed so that it became a 3-year rolling programme, so that issues that were identified as important could eventually rise to the top of the list.  He and officers had listened to the concerns that had been raised, consider design solutions that could be implemented with a report to a future meeting.

 

The Infrastructure Manager confirmed that:

 

·        A project brief would be written for the design team,

·        The LTP programme be reviewed as to whether a scheme be included within the next financial year.

·        A timescale be obtained from the design office given their existing workload.

 

The Chair thanked the Lead Petitioner for attending the meeting and highlighting the issue.

 

Whilst it was suggested that an additional recommendation be included that the Porfolio Holder look at the funding position to enable further work to be carried out quickly, the Chair did not think this was necessary as the Portfolio Holder had already stated that he would review the LTP Programme.  The Portfolio Holder confirmed that he would take this forward.

 

RESOLVED that:

 

1.      The officers proposed actions be supported, namely:

 

A.    Funding has already been allocated to carrying out some preliminary design work which would consider potential options to improve road safety on Allendale Road.  These could then be considered for inclusion in a future Local Transport Plan (LTP) Programme.  This may include appropriate physical traffic calming measures as requested through the petition.

B.    Remind the school they need to publicise and encourage the use of the preferred walking route.

C.   A copy of the petition and report to be forwarded to the Road Safety Unit at Northumbria Police for further investigation and any appropriate enforcement action deemed necessary.

D.   Concerns regarding the clearing of the footpath, and the cutting back of overhanging vegetation and thorns have already been addressed.  We will request Neighbourhood Services to ensure that Allendale Road is regularly inspected, to ensure the maximum footway width is available for use.

2.      The Chair liaise with the Portfolio Holder for Local Services to obtain a further report as soon as practicable.

 

c)      To consider updates on petitions previously considered:

 

There were none to consider.