A46 traffic lights update

At a meeting of the Council's Cabinet on Monday, I raised the issue of finding a permanent replacement for the temporary A46 traffic lights with the Cabinet Member responsible for transport.

He said that Highways England, who look after motorways and other major roads, were not happy for the temporary lights to stay in place but are happy for the council to investigate a permanent solution.

The next step will be for South Glos to ask the West of England Combined Authority for funding. Don't forget you can sign our petition to show your support.

Viaduct re-opening and A46 traffic lights going

The good news is that the council is planning to re-open the Bromley Heath Viaduct over the weekend of 27th April.

The bad news is that this coming weekend they will be removing the temporary traffic lights on the A46 near Tormarton, at the junction with the B4465 Westerleigh Road, which were installed to manage traffic diverted by the viaduct works. To carry out the removal there will be four-way lights in operation from 8am on Saturday until 6pm on Sunday.

Many local people believe these lights have made the junction safer. With the help of all of you that have shared your views with us, we've already convinced the council to start looking into a permanent solution. If it's to happen though we need to make sure this is a high priority for funding. If you would like to see permanent traffic lights installed and you haven't already signed our petition, please do it today.

Good news on mud and rocks on Westerleigh Road

Good news for anyone driving on Westerleigh Road or walking along the pavements - the mud and stones are being cleared and tipping stopped until further notice.

Local people were horrified when tipping started at Beech Hill Farm three weeks ago, leaving the roads strewn with mud and debris. I raised it with the council's planning enforcement team and since then have been continuing to share residents' complaints with them and Street Care, the team that looks after our roads. I also wrote directly to Keyway, the firm carrying out the tipping.

When I spoke to the Head of Street Care yesterday he told me that Keyway had been told to get a sweeper and team of workers with shovels out that day to clear the roads, otherwise the council would do the job and charge them for it. Even by the time this picture was taken at lunchtime yesterday the situation was much improved and as you can see a sweeper was in action.

Now someone is out with a pressure washer hosing down the pavements and a sweeper is cleaning all the roads around and leading to the land fill. Keyway have confirmed to me that they have closed the tip until further notice.

Mud on road near Beech Hill

Thank you to those who have raised concerns that tipping has started at Beech Hill Farm and there is mud on the road. Claire Young raised this with the relevant officers at South Gloucestershire Council, who have promised to investigate.

30mph speed limit for Bristol Road

The proposals for a 30mph speed limit on the B4058 Bristol Road, Frampton Cotterell have now been formally advertised. More details are available here.

Make the A46 temporary traffic lights permanent

Temporary traffic lights have been installed on the A46 at the Tormarton junction while the Bromley Heath viaduct works are being carried out. Local people have told us that overall these have improved safety but the lights will be removed once the viaduct works are complete.

We believe that a permanent solution is needed. We are calling on the council to work with Highways England to resolve any concerns about the manoeuvres allowed and traffic building up on the J18 roundabout so that permanent traffic lights can be installed. If you agree, please sign our petition.

Parking around the Manor School

After a long delay, the proposed new parking restrictions around the Manor School in Coalpit Heath have now been formally advertised.

There are actually two consultations because two Traffic Regulation Orders are needed - one for the yellow zig zag lines, which will be shortened so that they are enforceable, and one for double yellow lines. Hopefully these will help prevent the dangerous parking that local people have often suffered at school times. You have until 22nd September to have you say.

Proposed 20mph limit around Chipping Sodbury School

South Glos is proposing introducing a 20 mph speed limit around Chipping Sodbury School. It will include the following roads: Bowling Road, Claypit Hill, Dodington Road, Gullivers Place, Lilliput Avenue and Lilliput Court. You can find out more and have your say before 22 September here.

Proposed 20mph speed limit round St Andrew's School

South Glos is proposing introducing a 20 mph speed limit on Butcroft Lane, Church Lane and Rectory Lane in Cromhall. You can find out more and have your say before 22 September here.

Do you have a road safety concern?

Since the Area Forums were scrapped, the council needed a new way to handle the local road safety schemes. If you have a road safety concern, you can now ask the council to investigate it by submitting the Highways Investigation Request Form. You will need the support of at least one local ward member and parish councillor on behalf of the parish council.

Highways officers will assess your request to see if a viable scheme is likely. If it is, it will be added to the Local Transport Investigation List and once a year will be scored and prioritised along with all the other schemes on the list. The 15 highest scoring will be investigated.

Once investigated, three things can happen:

1. If there is a simple, low cost solution, that will be programmed to be implemented immediately.
2. If a more involved scheme is needed, it will be entered on the Local Transport Priority List.
3. If no scheme is recommended, you will be told no further action will be taken.

Once a year all the schemes on the Local Transport Priority List will be scored and prioritised and given an estimated cost. The top scoring schemes will go on the council's Capital Programme for the following financial year.

You can see the lists of possible future Investigation and Implementation schemes online. You can also see the Capital Programme for 2017-18.

You can find out more about the process here.

Yate Spur cycle route - general support but some concerns remain

The results of the consultation on the latest parts of the Yate Spur cycle route have been published by South Glos - full details here - scroll down and click on "Consultation Feedback Statement".

This consultation - including a very busy exhibition at Shire Way Community Centre - covered Westerleigh Road between the mini-roundabout and the Common and a refuge on the Nibley Lane arm of the Nibley Lane/Westerleigh Road junction.

In brief, the responses to the consultation were very positive. A total of 67 responses were received:

• 49 responses were in support of the scheme (73%)
• 3 responses objected to the scheme (4%)
• 15 responses stated no preference either for or against the scheme (22%)

The South Glos report responds to all of the points made, and many of the points have been taken into account in the final design.

Local cyclists still have worries about the plans for the Nibley Lane junction, where South Glos say "Funding limitations mean we are unable to carry out a radical remodelling of the junction.... The provision of a mini roundabout has been considered but there is insufficient space available to provide one that provides sufficient visibility without taking additional land which would increase time and costs significantly". In answer to the concerns, South Glos say "the proposals will be subject to the Road Safety Audit process which should identify any safety issues with the proposals"

The likely timing of the path works is now:

• Westerleigh Road (Shire Way to Rodford Way) section starting July
• Nibley Lane junction late 2017 / early 2018

That will leave two gaps:

• Under the Rodford Elm railway arch to join the existing Westerleigh Road path to the new section - this needs engineering design that has to be agreed with Network Rail, who have already agreed in principle. Design discussions are in progress.
• The "Westerleigh bypass" from Nibley Lane to Dodmoor Crossing. The design is being done this year, and again network rail have agreed in principle. Some land ownership needs to be clarified in case the route is not all on Network Rail land.

The gradual progress is welcome, but with some reservations about Nibley Lane junction. When the whole scheme is complete - hopefully by April 2019 - there will be a safe cycle (and pedestrian) route from Yate to the Bristol - Bath Railway Path and the Ring Road Path.

Local highway schemes funding approved

A number of local highway and transport schemes were among those approved for 2017/18 at a South Glos committee meeting on Wednesday:

• Next phase of the Yate Spur cycle route – £150k of funding is confirmed for 17/18, with the remaining £400k to complete the work in 2018/19 to be confirmed following a funding bid submission.
• 30mph limit and other changes on the B4058 Bristol Road between the Winterbourne boundary and Perrinpit Road
• Three pairs of dropped kerbs in Frampton Cotterell - Lower Stone Close/Upper Stone Close, Goose Green/ Ryecoft Road and Woodend Road/Brockeridge
• Northbound cycle lane on A432 at Cuckoo Lane
• 20mph speed limit on Ram Hill
• Improvements to bus stops at Bridge Farm, Bristol Road, Iron Acton
• Waiting restrictions review at Emerald Green Business Park
• Amendments to existing 7.5t weight limit on Gibbs Lane, Codrington
• Resurfacing the road and upgrading the traffic lights at the B4058 Bristol Road junctions with Latteridge Road and Wotton Road.

A number of waiting restrictions around schools are still to be completed. Claire Young has chased up those for the Manor School and has been told it will be another 11 weeks before they are advertised.

An investigation of an accident cluster site at Kendleshire Crossroads was carried forward from the current year. Highways officials will also be investigating:

• a cycle path from Henfield Crossroads to the Science Park
• the installation of a traffic island on Bristol Road near Court Road
• the transport issues raised in the Frampton Cotterell Parish Plan, including speed of traffic, HGVs, pavement parking and cycle improvements

Much of the above work is being funded from money specifically given to the council by the Government for transport schemes, so it cannot be spent on other things.The council also gets funding from developers to deal with the impact of new development on transport. In our area this includes:

• parking restrictions around the new Sainsbury's by the Badminton Arms, Coalpit Heath - thank you to everyone who submitted reports and photos of the problems caused by lorries
• 20mph limit on Wylington Road, The Meads, Frampton Cotterell

Latteridge Road, Iron Acton will be resurfaced and Westerleigh Road, Codrington will have surface dressing carried out.

View plans for Dodington Road traffic calming

There will be a drop-in event on plans for traffic calming around the Dodington Road railway bridge on Wednesday 5^th October from 4pm to 7pm in the sports classroom at Chipping Sodbury school, Bowling Road.

 In August we reported that such a scheme might be on the cards after a reduction in visibility due to the railway bridge works was identified.

Network Rail have now agreed a solution with South Gloucestershire Council with the following features:

• Single speed pillows on the north and south approaches to the bridge
• Road markings to be repainted where necessary
• An additional “SLOW” painted on the road on the south approach
• New solid centre line to be painted on the carriageway
• Post-mounted signs warning of speed pillows

Network Rail will pay for these works, which will require a road closure.  This will then leave them free to erect the parapet extension on the west side of the bridge, which they haven't been able to complete due to the visibility concerns.

Have your say on 20mph speed limits in Frampton Cotterell

South Glos is consulting on introducing a 20mph speed limit on the following roads within the Meads:

• Wylington Road 
• Seymour Place 
• Syms Avenue 
• Green Crescent 
• Walter Road 
• Christy Close

You can view the proposals and have your say online before 26th September.

The council is also consulting on having a 20mph limit around Frampton C of E Primary school on the following roads:

• Beaufort Road
• Brookside Drive
• Foxe Road
• Meadow Mead
• Mount Close
• Park Row
• Prospect Close
• Rectory Road
• Robel Avenue
• School Road
• Thornhayes Close
• Western Avenue
• Winchcombe Road
• Witney Mead

You have until 6th October to comment on these proposals.

Formal consultation on 20mph limits in Coalpit Heath

You have until 22nd September to have your say on the proposed 20mph limits on:

Burcombe Close, Coalville Road, Dormer Close, Heath Gardens, part of Henfield Road, Rathbone Close, Rose Oak Drive, Rose Oak Lane, Roundways, South View Crescent, South View Rise, Station Road, St. Annes Drive, Watters Close, Woodside Road.

This is the formal advertisement of the draft order, the next step in the legal process for changing a speed limit. You can view the proposals and comment here.

Safety on the roads around the Manor School

Last year South Glos carried out an informal consultation on introducing a 20mph limit on the residential roads to the east of Badminton Road, Coalpit Heath.

Based on the results of that consultation, officers decided to go ahead with the formal advertisement. That was supposed to happen in May but it was delayed and will now run from 29th August to 22nd September.

The formal advertisement of the waiting restrictions around the school, which is a separate piece of work, has been delayed by the departure of the official dealing with it. We'll let you know when it's time to have your say.

Dodington Road latest

Traffic calming may be on the cards after a reduction in visibility due to the railway bridge works was identified. Network Rail are looking at various alternatives for mitigating this before they complete their work.

Have your say on Keep Clear Markings

South Glos is asking for your views on a proposed scheme to improve the safety outside of Frampton Cotterell C of E School and make the advisory School keep clear markings mandatory. You can find out more and have your say here.

HGV monitoring on local roads

Monitoring will be carried out in September as part of the investigation into a possible 7.5T environmental weight limit on the roads leading from the B4465 to Dodington Road.

The number and type of vehicles using the roads will be logged at a number of locations using wires across the roads. The monitoring counters also measure vehicle speeds for census purposes only and not enforcement. It will be done in September, after the peak holiday period, because this will give a better idea of how the roads are used typically. The data will help highways officials at South Gloucestershire Council make a decision about introducing a weight limit.

If a weight limit was introduced, heavy goods vehicles that need to access properties within the limit would still be able to use the roads.

Safer cycling

"Learn to ride" and "Fix" courses have been added to the Bikeability scheme in South Gloucestershire. The first gives children basic cycling skills and road safety, while "Fix" involves mechanics teaching basic maintenance such as puncture repairs. Most Bikeability training for children takes place in schools but there are also free course available in the summer. Adults can book individual lessons here.

A scheme called Bikeability Recycled, which saw used and unwanted bikes refurbished and made roadworthy before being redistributed to people in the community, is being extended until the end of August. The council hopes to win funding to continue it for 4 years.