Last week I spent half a day looking at road safety issues in the ward with Ian Connolly, who is the Traffic Management Advisor for the West Mercia Police Safer Roads Team.
Issues we discussed (with site visits) included:
1. Extending the Fromes Hill 40mph speed limit further west to the laybys – we did a site visit with Paul Hunter from Balfour Beatty Living Places (BBLP), and this is now going to be formally requested by the Parish Council. It will probably take the best part of a year to go through the full ‘Traffic Regulation Order’ (TRO) process, but at least the ball is now rolling formally.
2. Tackling speeding on the B4220 in Cradley. Ian is going to organise radar data collection on traffic speeds within the next three months. I’m going to talk to the Parish Councils in the ward about jointly requesting a Speed Indicator Device from BBLP, and sharing the costs.
3. Stopping vehicles going the wrong way down one-way Butchers Lane in Cradley, next to Pixiefields. There’s a real problem with vehicles dangerously driving the wrong way down this lane, which is very narrow, with no footway. Like the residents, I’m worried that this is an accident waiting to happen – and it will only get worse when more houses are built above Pixiefields. I’ve written to Balfour Beatty (the Council’s highways contractor) asking them to investigate the possibility of closing this off to vehicles altogether using bollards. Ian is also going to write to BBLP raising this as a road safety concern and requesting them to investigate possible solutions.
4. Addressing the problem of parking on the blind corner on the B4220 outside the surgery in Cradley. Ian suggested double yellow lines are needed here; the Parish Council has to make a request to Balfour Beatty for a TRO to do this, so I’ve asked the PC to take this forward.
5. Extending the 50mph speed limit on the A4103 between Stony Cross and the Red Lion and/or reducing the speed limit to 40mph at Stony Cross. Ian is going to talk to Simon Hobbs (the Senior Accident Investigation Engineer at Herefordshire Council) about this and will report back to me. Again, the Parish Council would have to make a request to Balfour Beatty for a TRO to do this.
6. Remodelling the A4103 / B4220 to Bromyard (Ridgeway Cross) junction. Ian agrees that it’s not ideal, but explained that unless it shows up as an accident ‘cluster site’ (which it currently doesn’t) it’ll be hard to get this prioritised. I explained that several local residents have contacted me with serious concerns about this location. Ian agreed to talk and formally write to Simon Hobbs noting this concern. I have asked Cradley & Storridge Parish Council to keep a record of any incidents at this junction (even if they don’t require police involvement) so that we can build a case for addressing this dangerous junction.
7. Addressing the problem of dangerous driving affecting horse riders in the Acton Beauchamp & Bishops Frome area. Ian gave me some useful advice which I have passed on to the concerned resident.
8. Addressing the problem of speeding traffic on the B4214 in Munderfield. Speed data is currently being collected here as part of a planning application (I think), so I’m going to see if I can get hold of it. If the Parish Councils can share a speed indicator sign, that would also help.
Altogether it was a very useful morning and I hope we’ll be able to make some real progress on tackling some of these road safety issues on behalf of residents.
Ellie Chowns councillor news 12 June 2018
