Westerleigh traffic calming meeting

In January, local residents and Claire Young met highways officials to look at concerns about the Westerleigh traffic calming measures.

Speed monitoring data showed good improvements on the road in from Yate and near the speed table. The pinch point at the top of Shorthill Road and the pavement build-out near Broad Lane junction (see left with concerned local residents Alison and Stephen Howard) have been less successful.

A scheme to investigate further measures on Shorthill Road and between the bridge and Broad Lane will be up for consideration at the Frome Vale Area Forum meeting starting at 7pm on Thursday 5th March in Shire Way Community Centre, Yate. It would be a great help if residents could go along to the meeting to show their support for it.

The scheme would be looking particularly at the possibility of further speed tables. One of the things that would need to be looked at is whether the street lighting is of a sufficient standard between the bridge and Broad Lane to install one. It would increase the cost of a scheme massively if new street lighting had to be installed as well as the speed tables and make it far less likely that the scheme would be implemented.

One of the options discussed at the site meeting was whether Westerleigh Road could be closed between the bridge and Kidney Hill, potentially saving money by removing the need for the cycle path to go through the field. After the meeting officers looked at this more closely however  and advised this wouldn't be appropriate as it would more than double the traffic flow through Shorthill Road and potentially have an impact on traffic through the Henfield Quiet Lanes Scheme.

It was mentioned on site that the zebra crossing markings needed refreshing. The road is due to be resurfaced in the summer.

Street Care have been asked about the gouge marks on the speed table. They are happy that it is correctly installed and won't be damaging any vehicles that approach it at the correct speed.

Highways officials took action on one point straight away. Two days after our meeting, they reinstalled a permanent flashing speed sign near the railway bridge (see right).