My reply:
Charles Hughes
Head of Engineering
Flintshire County Council
Dear Charles
Thank you for responding to my AM Carl Sargeant's letter which I reproduce above. I remember at the meeting you attended at Penyffordd Institute that you said " These are our roads we can do what we like with them" I hope that is an accurate recall on my behalf.
Its early Saturday morning, already I have had an 80mph motorcycle (100mph going over the hill) and dozens of cars at 50 and 60mph past my house. Chester Road which is in a Welsh Rural village with a speed limit of 30 mph, I mention for my wider audience. The road is straight and fast just what you want for a main road to feed traffic from Scotland and the North of England into Mid Wales.
But I forget we had a By-Pass built for all this passing traffic......................
The fact is Charles as you well know traffic coming up from Broughton (also the proposed A55 Warren Hall exit) will favour for historical and time saving reasons the route through the middle of the village (Chester Rd) as opposed to our purpose built BY-PASS.
Reading between the lines of the excuses made by Flintshire County Council against a Penyffordd objector to UDP Warren Hall Development I think Chester Road has been factored in to support Penyffordd By-Pass and Penymynydd roundabout at peak traffic times.
Chester Road Penyfford a rural village road that has a BY-PASS to remain part of the main traffic network to and from Mid Wales to North England and Scotland?
You say options to stop passing traffic coming through the village are not viable for enforcement reasons.
7.5 TON EXCEPT FOR ACCESS would be a start. The signs themselves are a deterent to some and I am quite happy to video offenders, take registration numbers for the Police, risking personal injury and damage to my car. I have already stopped one local company from using the village as a short cut, another 200 to go......
As quoted earlier " The roads are ours we can do what we like with them"
You have it within your power to stop most traffic 24/7 from speeding through the village with the use of verticle platforms between the 30 speed limit and The Post Office. Outside The Post Office should be a Compulsory 20 mph Zone its a "Route to School" road.
On to your second point about The Arrive Alive Partnership. Chester Rd, Penyffordd.
Their current actions are of no use whatsoever. If they sit on Terrace Lane from 7.15 to 9.00 am on Monday to Thursday they will be effective. Two or three mornings there on the run would kill the LOCAL speed merchants because they can't accelerate until they get to the speed limit because they would not know the van was there until reaching the speed limit. The main thrust of the Chester Rd Rat Run is from the village outwards towards Broughton. Arrive Alive's current strategy is not effective. If Northop can have Arrive Alive at 7.30 am on a Saturday morning I'm sure they can squeeze us in somewhere. ( I have a feeling politics are at play for getting the van) A block session should modify local vehicle owner behaviour for a good period. Once every blue moon with the "High Profile" bit is just a Public Relation's stunt. Looks good in The Chronicle or The Evening Leader.
As someone who helps to pay your wages and pension I take umbrage over you favouring outsiders over the villagers of Chester Rd, Penyffordd, Flintshire when we have a purpose built BY-PASS.
My final point to repeat is that you are favouring your County Road Network over Penyffordd Chester Road residents who daily have to put up with 2800 vehicles including loud lorries, pollution and dangerous speeding on a school route. I have been to Cheshire, Wrexham and Merseyside recently, all of whom have 20 mph compulsory zones.
You will of course have done projections for the vastly increased traffic levels for Chester Rd, Penyffordd after Warren Hall A55 exit and the Warren Hall Development. I think our Councillors should be shown your figures.
It is your duty under the latest Welsh Goverment Legislation to protect our Welsh rural village environment from our daily environmental insult. I await your department's traffic calming measures with interest.
Yours sincerely
Colin Hughes
ps. The Welsh Assembly's plans for the "improvement" to the A55 road network at Warren Hall may relieve traffic in Broughton. The new link will not be an improvement at all for Chester Rd, Penyffordd residents. The Welsh Assembly should pay for methods to protect our village from the coming vehicular deluge.
pps. An Arrive Alive sign at the entrance to the village from Broughton as mention we should have on their website would help. One of those nice light blue reflective POLICE SPEED CHECK AREA would be a good efficient investment of Public Money for Chester Rd, Penyffordd
No comments:
Post a Comment