Agenda item

To receive a presentation from Mark Wills (Traffic Strategy) on the proposed 20 mph zones for Aylestone and the proposals for the Aylestone Bus Lane/Corridor resulting from the joint Leicestershire County Council and Leicester City Council bid to improve traffic flows along the arterial route into the City from Blaby ((A426).    

AYLESTONE VILLAGE - PROPOSED 20 MPH ZONE

 

Mark Wills, Head of Transport Strategy, Leicester City Council gave a presentation on the proposed 20 mph Zone for Aylestone Village.

 

The proposal for 20mph Zones originated from the City Mayor’s 100 Days Pledges following his election.  Pledge 30 was to begin consultative work with councillors and residents on the introduction of 20mph zones near schools, community facilities and in residential areas.  There was a programme of 9 such schemes for 2012/2013/2014 and initial consultation had started on the Aylestone Village proposal.  20mph Zones were different to 20mph limits in that they were a specific defined area where the speed of vehicles was self-enforcing through traffic calming and repeater signs.

 

During the initial consultation three issues had arisen which the meeting was requested to comment upon.  These were:-

 

a)    Middleton Street

 

Including a section of Middleton Street was not in the original proposal.  A speed survey conducted at the Zebra Crossing on 22 August indicated that the average speed of vehicles was 28mph.  This level of speed would cause concerns if the street was included in the 20mph Zone without traffic calming measures.  If Middleton Street was to be included the 20 mph Zone, the zone would start a short way down Middleton Street to allow drivers to be aware that they were in the Zone and it would extend down to the junction with Riverside Drive.

 

Residents voted in favour of including Middleton Street in the proposal as it was often used as a ‘rat-run’. They also asked that forms of traffic calming such as road narrowing be considered but that the safety of cyclists should be considered when designing traffic calming.

 

b)    Old Church Street – No Right Turn at Junction

 

A survey had been carried out which identified that 56 vehicles turned left but 13 vehicle turned right into Middleton Street. Of the 56 vehicles that turned left 26 then turned right in Sanvey Lane and a further 18 did a ‘U’ Turn to go back down Middleton Street.  The Police stated that they had carried out enforcement at the junction in the summer and had issued 10 tickets to drivers turning right resulting in 5 drivers being fined.  They had also carried out speed enforcement on Wigston Lane and found 2 out of 54 cars travelling in excess of the speed limit.

 

Discussion took place on whether a mini-roundabout could be provided to allow vehicles to turn right or whether the road should be closed to through traffic with drop bollards being in place to allow access to the Church and Church Hall when services and functions were held.

 

Residents of Old Hall Street stated that they did not wish to see the right turn being reinstated as they had campaigned for years to get the current ban on rights turns.  The closure of the road did not receive support. 

 

c)    Disraeli Street

 

It had been suggested that there should be a contra-flow cycle lane to allow cyclists to turn right.   Following discussion the public supported the proposal.  A suggestion was made that the contra-flow cycle lane could be put on the opposite side of the road where the bend was wider.

 

Mr Wills thanked the public for their views and stated that these would be considered by the Deputy City Mayor when finalising details of the proposed scheme to be consulted upon with the public.  When the consultation finished, the responses would be reported to the Deputy City Mayor and then, when the proposals had been finalised, Traffic Regulation Orders would be advertised in the local press and on the streets.  If objections were received at that stage to the proposals, the objections, if not resolved, would be considered by the Planning Committee before a final decision was made.  This process could take approximately 4-6 months to complete. 

 

Mr Wills was thanked for his presentation.

 

A copy of the presentation is attached at Appendix A.

 

A426 BUS CORRIDOR PROJECT

 

Mr Tony Kirk, Group Manager, Sustainable Travel Group and Mr Lee Quincey, Team Manager Accessible Travel and Improvements, Leicestershire County Council, supported by Mr M Wills, Mr R Bateman and Mr S Warwick, Leicester City Council were in attendance to outline the proposed scheme being consulted upon and to answer questions.

 

Leicester City Council and Leicestershire County Council had made a joint bid under the Better Bus Area Fund, announced in December 2011, towards a range of bus route improvements along the A426.  The bid was successful and £2.56m was awarded in March 2012 on condition that it was used by March 2014.

 

The project aimed to help grow the local economy with reduced congestion and improve the environment by encouraging more bus journeys. There were three elements to the project:-

 

a)    Proposals on Bus Infrastructure Improvements

 

                      i.        Introduction of 24 hour/7 day Bus Lanes to bypass congested sections along the route.

                    ii.        Bus Lane Traffic Signal Controls to allow buses to get close to the front of queues at junctions.

                   iii.        Bus Lane enforcement to improve journey times and reliability.

                   iv.        Junction improvements to improve safety, increase capacity and reduce delays for users.

                    v.        Road maintenance to improve ride quality. 

 

 

b)    Proposals on Information and Behaviour Change

 

                      i.        Real time passenger information via the internet and mobile technology including a journey planner and web-site.

                    ii.        Focused promotion and marketing and improved timetable displays at bus stops to improve information and awareness for the services.

                   iii.        Smart and integrated ticketing using the OneCard with wireless technology that dispenses with having to use cash.

                   iv.        Travel to work grants providing subsidised travel for those attending interviews, training or during the first few weeks of employment.

 

c)    Proposals on Quality Improvement to Existing Bus Services

 

                      i.        Bus stop improvements such as new bus shelters, seating and lighting etc.

                    ii.        Refurbished higher quality buses and daily vehicle cleaning.

                   iii.        Arriva City Centre presence to monitor service, reliability and passenger information in person.

                   iv.        Customer care for drivers.

 

In addition the wider benefits of the scheme proposals would include:-

 

       i.        A speed limit reduction of 40mph to 30mph from south of the Soar Valley Way junction to south of the Woodbank Junction.

      ii.        Use of bus lanes by cyclists to promote safe cycling along the route.

     iii.        Junction safety improvements at the Soar Valley Way and Lutterworth Road junction, a high priority accident site.

     iv.        Improved pedestrian crossing points.

      v.        Better emergency vehicle access.

     vi.        A reduction in the phases at traffic lights which should allow greater capacity to flow through the junctions and reduce congestion.

 

During discussion, members of the public commented that:-

 

          i.        Cyclists don’t like using Bus Lanes on safety grounds.  (In response, it was stated that where possible the bus lanes would be 4 metres wide and there would be room for busses to pull out into traffic lanes if necessary)

         ii.        There were three bus operators on the route and it was questioned why these were not part of the proposals.  (In response, it was stated that Centre Bus and First Group had also supported the bid, but discussions would be held with both Centre Bus and Roberts Coaches).

           iii.            The proposal to make the bus lanes 24 hour and 7 day a week was questioned when the existing bus lanes restrictions were well observed by motorists. (In response, it was stated that this was to improve clear understanding of the bus lane by motorists and to assist with enforcement.  It was noted that, since a similar 24 hour and seven day a week bus lane enforcement in the City Centre, the level of PCN’s had now dropped to 3 ½% of the previous observations) The public, however, felt the level of contravention on linear routes was far less than on City Centre routes.

 

The officers advised the public to take part in the consultation process and to submit views and comments.  Work on implementing the proposals was due to start in February 2013.

 

All the officers were thanked for their participation in the item.

 

A copy of the presentation is attached at Appendix B.