Henshaw & Bardon Mill Parish Councils
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HENSHAW & BARDON MILL PARISH COUNCILS Summary of A69 Road Safety Campaign Over the past 5 years, Henshaw Parish Council and Bardon Mill Parish Council, have been actively campaigning for comprehensive road safety improvements on the stretch of A69 from the eastern Bardon Mill junction to the western end of Henshaw. This has involved numerous meetings with Highways England, countless emails and letters to Highways England and Roadlink, and a resident’s survey which was submitted to Highways England, Roadlink and the Police – most of which have been met with negativity and often a lack of any response. The case put forward by the Parish Councils is as follows, ‘There are 10 road junctions and 7 unprotected public footpaths, rights of way, and crossings along a relatively short section of road and we are not aware of any similar situation on the A69 (or in fact Northumberland). Whereas the A69 bypasses all the other main towns along its route it actually physically divides our community. In the examples where it does pass through areas, such as Low Row and Warwick Bridge, there are numerous road safety measures such as speed cameras, speed restrictions, and protected crossings/junctions. The west end of Hexham has a junction onto the A69, with a junction to Warden opposite (similar to Tow House/Bardon Mill) and this has dedicated protected turns, long approach/slip roads and a mid point pedestrian island. To take the issue of the motorist first, it is incredibly dangerous for the driver to either access or leave the A69 safely. Most of the road junctions are the original outdated design and are poorly lit and signposted. As an example, heading east, the left hand turn into Henshaw has no sliproad and you must therefore reduce speed to 10-20mph, whilst there is a row of traffic rapidly approaching behind you travelling at 60mph. Using the ‘protected’ turns into either Tow House or Henshaw is extremely dangerous as speeding traffic in both directions often ignore the road markings and considers these points as overtaking lanes and you are faced with traffic heading at speed either right behind or toward you. This is witnessed daily and there is webcam footage of such incidents. To move onto the situation for pedestrians, again this is an incredibly dangerous stretch of road. There are 7 footpath crossing points and it is a life threatening situation to cross with heavy traffic travelling at speed in both directions. And there is no alternative to these crossings. The only underpass road is at the eastern end of Bardon Mill (and away from the main residential areas) and this road does not even have a footpath section. Crossing the A69 is an often daily necessity for local people to reach the garage shop on the northern side or to cross and return from the school, church, village hall, mobile post office, playpark, and several other local amenities. As for visitors to the area by train or bus they are then again forced to cross this road, with no alternative, to venture up to the Hadrian’s Wall and visitor attractions. And if the road is not dangerous enough, trying to cross carrying shopping, with luggage, rucksacs, children or dogs, is a near impossibility. In an age when we are trying to encourage healthier lifestyles, reduce car journeys, and attract tourism and visitors, then something has to be done. In recent years there has been a continuously upward increase in the amount of traffic. This increase in numbers is allied to the increase in traffic and pedestrian movement as there is a substantial increase in local attractions (The Sill, increased popularity of Vindolanda, Hadrians Wall) local services (school extension and 50% increase in school numbers, new Starbucks and forthcoming Spar minimarket on A69). Our final concern is about the road noise which is having an adverse effect on the residents in the area. The road noise has increased noticeably and it appears this is down to the quality of the road surface. Many other areas have a smooth and quiet top surface whereas this stretch is much rougher and noisy. The sound howls through the village and residential areas and echoes across the valley. We consider that the overall situation can only continue to deteriorate unless action is taken. The number of housing and residents in the area is on the increase, and the growing number of attractions and measures to bring in tourism, can only result in more traffic and pedestrians. We would therefore request consideration of the following measures; • Reduction of traffic speeds to 40mph. • Installation of speed or average speed cameras/warning signs at the western and eastern approaches (similar to Low Row). • Improvements to lighting and design of road junctions and pedestrian crossing points. • Increased signage, road markings and warnings.’ • Road re-surfacing appropriate to a major road in close proximity to residential properties and local services. Attached are appendices to outline the efforts made to date and to try and summarise the main details/evidence; ❖ Most recent meeting with Highways England on 23 July 2019 (Appendix A) ❖ A69 Road Safety Residents Survey – Responses and Comments (Appendix B) ❖ Overall Position of Various Parties (Appendix C) ❖ Freedom of Information Request – Highways England (Appendix D) Appendix A Meeting with Highways England re A69 Road Safety Improvements A meeting was held on 23 July 2019 to discuss the increasing safety risk to drivers and pedestrians on the stretch of A69 from the eastern end of Bardon Mill to the western end of Henshaw. The meeting was attended by representatives of both Henshaw and Bardon Mill Parish Council’s, local Northumberland County Councillor, Guy Opperman MP’s Office, Highways England and Northumbria Police. Unfortunately, Roadlink (A69) did not attend or send apologies. Key Points from Meeting • Highways England do not consider safety improvements on this section of road to be a priority. Their only offer was to meet again in 12 months time! • They will only consider action after there have been deaths/serious incidents. • They refused to talk about the recent road traffic incident which closed the road for almost a day. • They do not consider Henshaw Bardon/Mill (where a major trunk road separates a community) as an exception to warrant any improvements. • Recent ‘environmental improvements’ (carried out within 2 miles of the stretch or road at Henshaw/Bardon Mill) costing in excess of £250,000 are seen as more important than road safety. • Highways England state there is only one designated pedestrian crossing point on this stretch of road. The Case for Road Safety Improvements • There are 10 road junctions and 7 pedestrian crossing points on this road. • The road splits the communities of Henshaw and Bardon Mill. • Residents of Henshaw need to cross this road to access the recently extended school, church, village hall, and all other local services. • Residents of Bardon Mill need to cross this road to access the local garage (and new minimarket), local villages and places of employment. • The main junctions are sub-standard with no ‘run-off areas. • Substandard ‘protected’ turns offer little protection from 60mph oncoming and following traffic (particularly HGV’s). • Ever increasing volume of traffic heading across the country at 60mph • Additional traffic turning on/off, increased pedestrians/visitor movement as a result of The Sill, Hadrian’s Wall attractions, increase in size of local school, new ‘Starbucks’, new Spar minimarket. • Ever increasing road noise from unsuitable surface close to residential property and getting worse by the day as a result of increased road usage and 60mph speeds. Possible Solutions/Request to Improve Situation • Reduction in traffic speed such as a 40mph limit, average speed cameras, flashing warning signs. • Upgrade junctions with run on/off lanes • Suitably protected lanes for turning off. • Protected pedestrian crossing points • New quieter road surface • It was pointed out that the temporary 40mph limit imposed during safety repairs following the recent incident had made the road much safer and quieter and this was noted on the day of the meeting when the Police parked their vehicle next to the A69 as this made an instant improvement with drivers slowing to around 40mph. Highways England Position Highways England are the transport authority responsible for the A69. Roadlink (A69) are responsible for maintenance and work on the road under contract from Highways England. It was not explained why Roadlink were not represented at the meeting. Highways England’s representatives were disappointingly negative in their approach and rather than try to work with the Parishes to find workable solutions their main representative was defensive and simply answered that there were not sufficient deaths or serious incidents to warrant any action whatsoever. Recent Environmental Improvements Under a Freedom of Information Request details were obtained of the following; 1. £45,000 was recently spent on junction works at Hardriding to protect wild flowers (which could have been re-planted away from the road at a fraction of the cost). 2. £121,000 budget allocated to drainage works at Melkridge. These works which were apparently due to take around 6 weeks have now been ongoing for 6 months and are still not completed. Highways England state they will be completed ‘within budget’. 3. £75,000 planting scheme of new hedging/shrubs. Current Road Surface Highways England state that Roadlink (A69) are responsible for the poor quality road surface which is becoming increasingly noisy each day. They stated they cannot influence Roadlink to look at providing a new surface (despite being the Transport Authority and employing Roadlink). Highways England have been asked to carry out noise surveys but again refuse to do so and state that this is not their responsibility.