January 31st, 2013 |
Half-Way To A Pedestrian Crossing !
The Local Highways Panel today allocated £150,000 today for a light-controlled crossing in Hullbridge Road, by Lubards Farm !
Only five councillors turned up today (there should have been nine) but all of those present supported this. So let’s give a thank-you to Councillors Gill Lucas-Gill, Keith Hudson, Mike Steptoe and Bonnie Hart. The petition certainly helped a bit.
On the positive side, visibility won’t be a problem – there will be enough of a sight splay.
But we are ONLY HALF-WAY there – this decision has to be signed off by the County Portfolio Holder, Cllr Derrick Louis. And this may not happen because the figures on the number of vehicles on the road, and especially the number of pedestrians crossing here, may not be high enough. This is where the evidence from the petition is going to be very useful – because people will avoid crossing the road until there is a crossing.
The other policy issue is that there is no footway yet on one side of the road. Anyway, we won’t be sitting back- we will do what we can to get the crossing…
We”ll write about the other highways discussions today in a separate post….
Ron Oatham
Trevor Parrett
Bruce Smart
Chris Stanley
Pam Waldie
Elena Black
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February 1st, 2013 at 12:02
I told my girls the good news on the way home from school. They were very excited that it is a yes from that council meeting but we need to wait until the big council have to agree 1st. They could not believe that it was really going to cost £150,000 to pay for it. I also explained that the answer might be a No because only one side of the road had a pavement. I was then asked how much a pavement would cost and why couldn’t some of the £150,000 pay for it. I tried to explain that the £150,000 was the cost of the crossing itself, to which I was told that “I can give them my piggy bank to pay for it”.
I know that children do see things in black and white and don’t grasp the complexities that we grown ups have to face but I wanted to share this with you because we have been crossing that road to get into that junction for about 4 years now. My 8 year old daughter is becoming increasingly aware of how dangerous that road is and she would rather give her own piggy bank away than be frightened of crossing that road anymore.
I’ve been already asked:
What happens to the money that has been allocated to the crossing if we get refused by Essex council?
How much pavement would we need to qualify for pavement along that road? We already have a tiny bit put in for the bus stop, could we just have it extended so that it was long enough to qualify for a pavement on both sides of the road?
How did the council know that it would cost £150,000? (Is that how much a similar one has cost to be built or is there some sort of complicated formula to work out how much crossings like that are?)
You are right that more people will use the facilities if it is safe to cross.
Thank you to Chris, the councillors that attended the meeting but especially everyone who were able to sign the petition. How long will it take to get a decision made?
February 1st, 2013 at 10:02
Good news. The pavement not being on both sides of the road makes the crossing even more necessary. Will there be a need for both? If there is a pavement Rawreth Lane to the farm site on the left as you go towards Hullbridge how can pedestrians access this without even more expense? I have always supported the crossing and think it is better to focus on this alone.
February 1st, 2013 at 07:02
Jane , it does sound very expensive, if I had the time I would really like to research into why these things cost so much!
To answer your questions:
1) It will be lost from the local budget, so we wouldn’t be able to spend it on anything else. The committee knew that but we were pretty adamant that this is the improvement we want. I had great support on this from the other four councillors present.
2) I’m not sure exactly. In theory all the way back to Rawreth Lane however the officers report did suggest that a footway wouldn’t be needed as the farm might allow people to walk the other side of the hedgeline.
3) It’s an estimate based on previous work (I assume)
4) Not sure of the timescale, probably measured in weeks rather than months. Enough time anyway for me to send an email to a couple of people I know over the weekend to ask for support.
February 1st, 2013 at 10:02
I am the first to admit I do not understand council budgets and how much a crossing would cost. But another possibility would be to ask (or insist?) big businesses like Tesco and Sainsbury pay for the necessary parking restrictions needed outside their own shops (see post above) and the council money can then be used to ensure a safe pavement along Hullbridge Road, aswell as a crossing!
I guess it may not be quite that straight forward!