Reduce Traffic on Church End

We have been living on Church End for almost 8 years. There has always been a traffic problem with speeding cars though we notice it more now because we have small children. Reducing the speed limit to 20 mph will have no effect whatsoever because the speeding cars do not adhere to the current 30 mph limit and often hurtle past our house at close to 50 mph (we are on the straight bit opposite the green after the shop). When I turn off Coldhams Lane into the Rosemary Lane end I am closely followed by cars/vans wanting to go faster and when slowing down to turn off into our drive (on the right!) I have even been dangerously overtaken by drivers unable to wait. We get very frustrated by the speed at which drivers feel it is reasonable to reach on our road. Quite often there are numerous cars parked alongside St Andrews Church (for a meeting, wedding or funeral) and it is extremely difficult to get past these from the High Street end now at peak times because the volume of traffic coming the other way is relentless and it is impossible to see whether the road is clear or not before starting to pull out. I am in favour of traffic calming measures (the pinch points, speed bumps, a speed camera) and think I would prefer these to closing off the road.

Ollie - I couldn't agree with you more. Blocking the road will cause some of us a slightly longer commute (if we use Coldhams Lane) but in the end it will be a lot safer for everyone, even if it means an extra 5 minutes at the traffic lights on High Street/Coldhams Lane junction.

Hi Jim, My neighbours who are in houses from Neath Farm Court that face the road have received the petition. I believe there is a Facebook page for the residents so it would be a good idea to circulate this there (if not already). We do need as many signatures as possible!

I am disappointed that no letters or potions were delivered to Neath Farm Court presumably it is felt that our support is either not wanted or needed. Not very inclusive.

I am so very pleased to see this taking place and thank you Steve for getting this started following our meeting last month: I have had so many meetings with county officers and Police about this over many years (long before becoming a Cllr) that every time they see me they dive into the nearest doorway! I did indeed suggest many years ago that the road was simply cut in two - cheap and self-policing; but most residents at the time did not want this but perhaps things have changed now so I brought it up again a few months ago. We have a meeting on 26th June at County Council to learn the outcome of a list of funding bids - one of which I placed on the list for Church End traffic - if that was a succsess then we may at long last have some cash to work with: If so, the question is - what do we want? pleasing everyone will be difficult. Ollie makes some good points, and I fear he is correct - traffic lights at Colhamd Lane are going no-where I'm afraid. I did speak to highways before Neath Farm was built and told them because of the bend - sightlines are very poor there and a mini roundabout would at least help the traffic flow of that development and on the road itself - but I was told by them 'it was not a requirment' - and that was that; I could drum up no further interest about it from them - but to me it was obvious it would be a problem. Lets keep at it - get as many ideas as possible and with the help of enough residents (a lone Cllr is just that!) just maybe we can together get somewhere. Thank you again Steve for getting this started.

The only thing that will actually work would be to cut the road in two and I'm not sure how practical that would be. The cars parked on the road are actually great traffic calming, I'm pretty sure that my last cat was killed on the road because it had just been resurfaced and there were no cars on it so the traffic was much faster.

I Jim Sherlock, I'm a Neath Farm resident and heartily agree, with comments here, it's perhaps a little unfair to comment on the length of time new residents have been here it doesn't mean we care any less, like Rachael I think a think we should all get together. I might add that the car parking on Church End was an issue when there were only a handful of residents all using their own car parking spaces. All residents have at least one parking space many have two, so I think it is not us causing the problem.

Our local councillor (Russ McPherson) has also previously raised issue of barricading Church End to prevent rat-runs and this appears to be viable (the same way Fulbourn Old Drift was many years ago). Since I moved into 164 in 2006, traffic has not only increased in volume but also in recklessness. With the new build at Neath and the head-scratching logic of not providing enough car spaces for residents of the new build, the bend on Church End has effectively made this section a single carriageway accompanied by a commensurate spike in dangerous driving that includes mounting the pavement, clipping wing mirrors and aggressive attitudes. A mini-roundabout for Neath Farm Court residents will probably solve the issue facing residents of that estate but will do nothing for the rest who live on or off this road.

I also want to add how impressed I am that this petition and discussion has commenced. Well done Steve Watson!

I think the only solution is to permanently barrier the road at the dangerous blind corner. Residents can access their homes and it will be an effective deterrent to the lunatics that bomb up the road to save a few seconds on their journey. Lets join together to make Church End a safe and happy environment to live in and not a 'rat-run'. I cycle along the road everyday and feel it's a risky exercise as cars zoom past me at crazy speeds. Its like running the gauntlet. This is not how a mainly residential road should be. Safety measures need to be implemented to avoid unnecessary accidents.

I agree wholeheartedly to the above comments. The cars hurtle down the road at break neck speed with disregard to others safety. My fear is for the young population that utilise the green spaces to play etc. We need to take action as a community and sway the council to agree on safety measures.

I moved to Church End last year in the Neath Farm Court Development. The residents of NFC have had numerous conversations with the council, councillors, highway authority, our MP and even highlighted the problem in the local paper. The police were asking for us to help with a traffic awareness campaign but never got back in contact with us. We are concerned about not being able to get out of NFC due to parked cars and the speed at which people drive down the road. Perhaps we need a residents meeting to join forces and come up with an action plan?

If they put in pinch points, they need to put the sort that are used in Windsor Road, the ones that lorries can't get through!

Now without wishing to be rude... You've been here five minutes, whilst many of us have been suffering this Rat Run for years! Anyone who used the Coldham's Lane junction near the Church recently, whilst the traffic lights were not working, will know how well the traffic can flow at that junction, as long as people simply treat the junction like a roundabout - give way to traffic from the right. Before they put the lights in, some years ago, Church End was relatively quiet, but since the lights, and since all the new houses went in as well, that is no longer the case. If they were to put a small/mini roundabout near the Church, to go with the other two, that would improve things. As for putting in 'pinch points', I'm not convinced that will help. Since the new houses were built, there are lots of pinch points - cars parked all along the road. The fact is, I'll sometimes drive straight down to the lights, turn left into Church End and pass the cars along Church End that all turned left at Rosemary Lane! It's further to go that way, but they know that if they catch the lights at the Church, that it can take longer. So the lights are the main issue, as far as I'm concerned. But the likelihood of them doing away with those, in favour of a roundabout, is highly unlikely I reckon. But that, or blocking the road at the end of Rosemary a Lane, as someone else suggested, are the only way to stop the Rats from running through!

Thank you for adding to this Em. I am sorry to hear that you have suffered damage as a result of the traffic through Church End. I do hope your husband was not injured as a result of being hit by a delivery van. I agree that the effect of going to the council on your own is pretty limited - if not completely ineffective. My hope is that if we can collect as many stories like yours, as well as get all those for whom this issue affects to sign the petition, we will have a little more power to make something happen. I certainly think some kind of pinch point down near where we are on Rosemary Lane would have an effect. However, it might be worth studying the traffic flow in a little more depth to see what might be the best of course of action. Thank you for signing the petition, Please encourage your husband and neighbours to sign this online petition and add any comments.

In February 2013, my husband was struck on his motorcycle by a delivery van changing direction and reversing into him opposite the new Neath Farm Court housing development. Earlier this month (September) my car was struck from behind by another car as I was indicating to turn right into my drive , and they failed to stop. > > Neither of these collisions were our causing or fault, in fact on both occasions the separate drivers involved admitted liability at the scene, meaning that insurance claims have been processed in due course. However, both incidents have shaken us (as a family, as drivers previously uninvolved in accidents and as residents) to our cores. These collisions happened within 250m of our front door. > > Church End has of course changed in the thirteen years since I bought 190, but unfortunately so have the accompanying traffic issues: *speeding has already been identified and recorded by police > *residents in the new Neath Farm Court housing estate have registered their concerns that - without any road/line markings and an entrance onto a blind bend - entering and exiting this new road is dangerous > * new housing replacing the old shop has further increased residential parking pressures > *numerous examples of damage to cars parked in the lay-bys caused by collision > *despite new traffic lights on the Rosemary Branch junction, Church End continues to be used as a 'rat run' by commuters in rush hours > *commuters parking outside the industrial businesses have reduced road width > * visibility around a junction with March Lane/ bend that we all know CAN be driven at 30mph but actually SHOULDN'T. *the CCC/Highways agency refusing to clarify road positioning, rules or priorities by not permitting the use of yellow lines, a white line down the middle of the road to establish correct line of travel, marking of parking bays to ensure a line of sight around a bend, or creating a mini roundabout to clarify priority is playing with lives a

I don't think we will able to stop vehicles using Church end as a rat-run, so we should look at making it safer. One of the worst places along the road seems to be at the junction with Neath Farm Court. When the estate was being completed the contractors initially built several car parking spaces on the immediate right hand side of the entrance, but these were suddenly over planted with trees and some grass, leaving the new occupants no choice but to use the road for parking, which makes the blind bend even worse. I think a mini-roundabout positioned outside the entrance would help a lot, also slowing cars at a point where there are young children playing.