Representatives from Leicester City Council’s Regeneration, Highways and Transportation Department will give a presentation on traffic related issues in the local area.
Minutes:
Representatives from Leicester City Council’s Regeneration, Highways and Transportation Department gave a presentation on traffic related issues in the local area.
Jeff Miller, Director, Regeneration, Transport and Highways explained that the most prominent traffic and highways issues in the Spinney Hills ward were around a lack of parking, obstructive parking and speeding traffic. Jeff informed the meeting that work has now been completed on the Mere Road traffic calming measures.
Jeff raised the following points as part of his presentation:
Andy Thomas, Head of City Development also explained that there was lots of competition for parking space on the Victorian streets within Spinney Hills. Furthermore, it was reported that the police have assisted in dealing with problems with lorries and cars that parked on pavements. Verge hardening was described as one way of addressing the problem of a lack of parking. Ways to curb selfish parking were stated as being imposing double yellow lines, an increased presence of Civil Enforcement Officers, and installing bollards.
With regard to issues with speeding motorists and general road safety, Jeff explained that the methods taken to curb these problems were undertaking traffic speed surveys, installing vehicle activated signs and safety cameras and reducing speed limits. Jeff explained that a pilot project to install vehicle activated signs was to take place in part of the city, before being rolled out to the whole of the city. He did state however, that Leicester had the second safest roads in the country.
Jeff informed the meeting that the Council was very keen to promote the use of public transport, and worked with the bus companies on the Quality Bus Partnership. In response to a question from a Member of the Public, Jeff reported that the Council had no influence in determining the price of bus fares, but administered the Government’s concessionary fares scheme.
In respect of the work on Mere Road that took place to reduce the height of the traffic calming measures, Jeff stated that the Cabinet Lead Member for Regeneration and Transport had been consulted around the effectiveness of the changes. It was reported that the level of feedback from the works was positive and that similar work could be rolled out across the rest of the Spinney Hills ward.
A Member of the Public was of the view that there was inconsistency with the placement of double-yellow lines in the ward and felt that the length of lines on particular roads should be reduced whilst others did not have lines at all that perhaps should have. Andy explained that the entries to roads were usually kept clear to allow emergency vehicle access, but that the extent of a double yellow line often depended on the nature of a particular road.
Another Member of the Public reported that many vehicles had recently been parking illegally on East Park Road. The complainant felt frustrated that the situation had not been rectified. Barbara Whitcombe, City Wardens Manager explained that such incidents would normally be dealt with by the city warden. She explained that the city warden for Spinney Hills and Stoneygate had recently left, but that a replacement warden would soon be in post. In response to a further issue raised concerning the sale of vehicles on roadside, Barbara explained that this act was only illegal if the actual transaction took place on the street itself. She hoped that new legislation would be produced that would make such trading more difficult.
A resident from the St Matthews Estate stated that there were several dangerous pot-holes on the estate. Members agreed that a patch-walk should take place on the St Matthews Estate to specifically identify pot-holes.
A Member of the Public spoke of parking difficulties when accessing places of worship in the area. Officers expressed sympathy to these concerns but stated that it would not be possible to issue parking exemptions specifically for places of worship, but agreed to look into the restrictions that were currently in place, and would look at providing alternative options such as pay and display bays. Andy further stated that officers were currently conducting a piece of work to assess the parking situations of all places of worship across Leicester.
A Member of the Public stated that bollards were required outside St Matthews Petrol Station to deter motorists from parking on the verges. Jeff agreed to look at the possibility of re-installing bollards at this location if it was deemed necessary.
RESOLVED:
That a patch-walk be conducted on the St Matthews Estate to identify locations where there are pot-holes.