Leicestershire County Council Highway Forum for Charnwood Tuesday
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LEICESTERSHIRE COUNTY COUNCIL HIGHWAY FORUM FOR CHARNWOOD TUESDAY, 27 MAY 2014 AT 6.00 PM TO BE HELD AT COMMITTEE ROOM 1 - CHARNWOOD BOROUGH COUNCIL OFFICES AGENDA Item 1. Chairman's welcome 2. Apologies for absence 3. Any other items which the Chairman has decided to take as urgent elsewhere on the agenda 4. Declarations of interest in respect of items on the agenda 5. Minutes of the previous meeting Pages 5 -12 6. Chairman's update - Loughborough Town Centre Pages 13-14 Transport Scheme 7. Presentation of petitions under Standing Order 36. A petition with 90 signatures from CC D Snartt, on behalf of Dorothy Poultney will be presented. The petition requests for the introduction of parking restrictions on Bradgate Road to the eastern side of the entrance to Bradgate Park, Newtown Linford. ‘Currently there is no restriction on vehicles parking on the road at the eastern side of the entrance to Bradgate Park. Vehicles parked in this location severely restrict the view of drivers of other vehicles travelling in both directions. When vehicles are parked, the road width is reduced to such an extent that only one car can safety pass at any one time. Drivers are unable to ascertain whether the route ahead is Officer to Contact: Sue Dann, Democratic Support ◦ Department of Environment and Transport ◦ Leicestershire County Council ◦ County Hall Glenfield ◦ Leicestershire ◦ LE3 8RJ ◦ Tel: 0116 305 7122 ◦ Email: [email protected] www.twitter.com/leicsdemocracy www.facebook.com/leicsdemocracy www.leics.gov.uk/local_democracy clear as it is impossible to see past the parked vehicles due to the bend in the road. Navigation of this stretch of highway is dangerous for drivers, people disembarking from parked vehicles and pedestrians. This is an extremely busy road accommodating through traffic from the A50 and M1 and Park visitors. Many drivers using this stretch of road are unaware of the danger created by the parked vehicles or continue at speed without regard for other road users. There have been many incidents of damaged car door mirrors or heavy braking as drivers find themselves head on with another vehicle, trying to pass on this restricted width of road. The danger and risk of collision or serious incident could be eliminated by banning parking adjacent to the park entrance. Safer parking could be allocated further along the road where yellow line restrictions are currently in place and yet where vehicles could park without causing restriction to passing motorists. 8. Medium Term Financial Strategy - Implications for Pages 15-20 Highways and Transportation Services 9. Network Management Plan Pages 21-24 10. Road safety in Leicestershire - 2013 Pages 25-36 11. Surface Dressing Pages 37-42 12. White lining in Shepshed Pages 43-44 13. Energy Reduction for Street Lighting Project Pages 45-48 14. 2014/15 maintenance and improvements programmes - Pages 49-62 information item 15. Programme of traffic management work - current position - Pages 63-72 information item 16. On-going action statement Pages 73-74 17. Items for future discussion Will Members please submit these in writing to the officers prior to the meeting 18. Any other items the Chairman has decided is urgent 19. Date of next meeting: 2nd September 2014 (Comm Room 1, CBC offices) 20. Chairman's closing remarks This page is intentionally left blank 5 Agenda Item 5 MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF THE LEICESTERSHIRE COUNTY COUNCIL HIGHWAYS FORUM FOR CHARNWOOD HELD IN COMMITTEE ROOM 1 AT THE BOROUGH COUNCIL OFFICES ON TUESDAY 7TH JANUARY 2014 AT 6.00PM PRESENT County Councillors Borough Councillors Cllr D Snartt (Chairman) Cllr P Day Cllr S Hampson Cllr D Gaskell Cllr M J Hunt Cllr J Hunt Cllr A M Kershaw Cllr B Seaton Cllr K Knaggs Cllr M Smidowicz Cllr P Lewis Cllr E Vardy Cllr P C Osborne Cllr P Youell Cllr C M Radford The following also attended the meeting: County officers present: P Crossland, V Turner, D Wright, D R Bradbury Borough officers present: L Aspray Representing LCC: R Wilson - Eurovia 037. CHAIRMAN’S WELCOME The Chairman welcomed Members and Officers to the meeting. 038. APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE Apologies for absence were received from Cllrs I Bentley CC, ME Newton CC, R Sharp CC, R J Shepherd CC, K Jones BC, K Pacey BC, A Paling BC, C Poole BC, M Smith BC and J Sutherington BC. 039. URGENT ITEMS There were no urgent items. 040. DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST There were no declarations of interest. 041. MINUTES OF THE PREVIOUS MEETING Minutes of the previous meeting held on Wednesday 4 th September 2013 were confirmed and signed as a true record of the meeting subject to Item 026 being amended from:- ‘However, infrequent buses on these routes can create major problems with motorists facing untreated roads’ to ‘However, Cllr RJ Shepherd CC pointed out that, for some people, a bus, however infrequent, may be the only means of transport available to them. If a bus is not able to access a road because it has not been gritted, some people may be denied any form of 6 transport. Cllr Shepherd requested that sympathetic consideration be given in the gritting programme to such bus routes. 042. CHAIRMAN’S UPDATE a) Progress of sponsorship of roundabouts The Chairman asked Mr Turner to update Members on this item. Mr Turner was pleased to report that the County and Borough Councils have worked together in order to resolve the planning problems surrounding the scheme. On 16 th December 2013 an amended planning application had been accepted. The outcome of the application was that: - It reduces the number of sites from 31 to 21, with the size of signs being reduced at particular sites - Several sites have seen a reduction in the number of signs on a site - Only 1 site was objected to so this site was removed from the planning application The Chairman asked whether parish councils were able to undertake maintenance on the roundabouts if they wished. Mr Turner confirmed that, if any parish council wished to self-maintain roundabouts, they should contact the County Council for approval. Cllr P Lewis CC welcomed this working relationship. He confirmed that he would convey this news back to the Loughborough in Bloom Committee. Cllr A M Kershaw CC asked which site had been withdrawn from the application. Mr Turner in response confirmed that the site was on the A607 Melton Road/ Rearsby Road. He agreed to speak with Cllr Kershaw outside the meeting on the One Ash Island A6 site. The Chairman introduced the new Director of Environment and Transport, Phil Crossland, and asked him to give a little of his background. Mr Crossland apologised to Members for being late due to the heavy traffic. He went on to say that he was born in Kegworth and attended school in Loughborough. Mr Crossland had worked for several local authorities commencing with Nottinghamshire County Council and, more recently, with the Shetland Islands. He was pleased to have returned to Leicestershire and looked forward to working with Members. Mr Turner agreed to provide details on the sites in the application with the minutes. b) Loughborough Town Centre Transport Scheme The Chairman introduced Mr Richard Wilson, Eurovia’s Liaison Officer. Cllr Lewis congratulated officers on the provision of space at the exhibition for people who were against the scheme. This highlighted the transparency of the exhibition. 7 The Chairman confirmed that Cllr M J Hunt CC had tabled 3 questions prior to the meeting:- - Is the street design being re-examined in light of the replies to the bus trial? - How many responses to the bus trial consultation were received from:- a. Individuals? b. Organisations? - What were the scores from options in each category? Mr Crossland, in response to the questions, explained that the consultation responses were still being analysed. Reports would be made to the County Council’s Scrutiny Commission and Cabinet in March/ April. Cllr M J Hunt was concerned that work was due to start in Swan Street in April. This gives no time for the County Council’s Cabinet to consider how the work should be designed if there is a need for a re-design. Mr Crossland stated that the report would go to Scrutiny Commission, and the Cabinet would have a view on any possible re-design before work commenced in Swan Street. The Chairman asked if officers could respond to Cllr M J Hunt’s questions and copy all the Members of the Forum in. c) School Transport Plans Members noted the update. 043. PRESENTATION OF PETITIONS UNDER STANDING ORDER 36 There were no current outstanding petitions. 044. ENERGY REDUCTION FOR STREET LIGHTING The Forum considered a report by the Director of Environment and Transport on the energy reduction for street lighting project. The report was presented by Mr Turner with a copy filed with the minutes. Mr Turner confirmed that the report had been requested at the last Forum meeting. Mr Turner brought Members up-to-date with the implementation of part-night lighting. He pointed out areas where consultation is ongoing. Since the introduction of the scheme, £1m has been saved from the street lighting energy budget. The works completed will continue to deliver a full-year saving of £600k and achieve carbon savings of over 3000 tonnes. Finally, Mr Turner confirmed that a review is undertaken in each area one year after the lighting is converted. To date, the police are confident that crime has not risen due to the implementation of the lighting scheme. Officers of the County Council’s Accident Investigation and Prevention Team have also indicated that the initiative has not led to an increase in accidents.