A site meeting was held this morning by County officers concerning the new road traffic layout, and Ruth attended together with Patrick Coulter from Highfield Residents’ Association. Here are some notes of what was debated/agreed.

Signage

• Better/clearer signage needs to be put out at both ends of Lime Walk pending roadworks to alert motorists – County investigating
• New road junction layout signs in Lime Walk need to be more visible to make sure drivers see them well in advance of the junction, County checking this
• County officers will not introduce priority direction signs as they believe the current arrangement cuts down traffic speed

Lighting/visibility

• County officers will carry out a check on lighting at night on this junction. Street lighting have already made some recommendations and budget checks are being made
• The type of lamps used may be changed, one lamp column may need moving but the number of lamp-posts will remain the same
• Extra reflectors to be added to bollards (see below)

Bollards

• Two extra bollards will be installed on each of the corners where there are none at present to protect pedestrians and stop traffic cutting corners – these to have reflectors on three sides
• County officers will investigate whether reflectors can be put on additional sides of the existing bollards so they show up for traffic from All Saints Road
• Meanwhile temporary bollards will be set up here as corner cutting by vehicles is perceived to be a significant issue by residents

Build-outs

• There is a possibility that planter(s) may be fixed here in association with the HRA DIY traffic calming scheme
• Meanwhile temporary bollards of some kind or a keep right sign will be set up

Speed monitoring

• The location of the monitoring equipment was discussed. Officers are willing for a local resident to lead on location for this near the top end of Lime Walk midway between the entry points and the All Saints junction and there will be “before” and “after” checks at sites previously used
• Officers noted that this cut down traffic scheme focuses primarily on helping pedestrians and cyclists by reducing speeds at specific conflict points, rather than reduce volume and speed of traffic throughout the whole area

Latimer Road

• It’s acknowledged that residents are concerned about vehicles cutting corners on entering Latimer Road from All Saints Road and potential transfer of traffic from Lime Walk. The County is therefore considering how these two concerns could be dealt with inside the budget
• It would be possible to construct  build-outs in All Saints Rd either side of the entry to Latimer Rd. This would reduce road space to one vehicle at a time
• There is a concern about whether there would be enough turning space for large vehicles
• Options will be considered, but in the meantime, one temporary build-out will be set up as a pilot on the Stapleton Rd side, and residents nearby will be informed before the pilot starts

Road safety issue

• In response to a resident’s question about priority on ‘yellow brick roads’, it was confirmed that if a pedestrian has already started to cross the road then the motorist should give way. Otherwise the driver has priority.

We understand that HRA is holding a meeting to discuss suggestions for further improvements shortly, for example a change to some on road parking (rather than half-on, half off road as at present) in some residential streets, and a meeting on this will be held with the relevant County officer at a later date.