Notes From Roads Meeting 12th August 2013

Notes of a Roads meeting held on 12 August 2013 at Seaton Ross Village Hall.

Nigel Leighton talked us through the HGV survey done by the ERYC in our area. It found that there was a fairly even distribution of HGVs using the routes in the area and 98% of the vehicles were delivering to or attending farms or businesses in the area ie. travelling the routes for access, which can be worked out from how long the journeys took. Number plate recognition was used. EYRC does not want to divert traffic to create another problem in another village.

Highways want to improve the roads where most local HGVs go. Their budget is £6-700,000 to do the rest of Ash Lane which will take about 10 weeks. There will be further phases to Rythamgate and Scamland. There will be some work in Everingham using the Ash Lane planings eg. c10 passing places including the Thorpe le Street road. Thorpe le Street should not be made too good or more lorries will use it and there is no money for a major upgrade there.

The tenders for recycling?? will be made in early October with contracts for 10 years. They will know in January 2014 whether Kemps has the contract again and can then talk with them about vehicle movements. Kemps is only a small proportion of the HGVs so even if they don’t get the contract again the roads still need doing.

Greg Knight asked 2 questions: (1) Was best environmental practice included as part of the tender requirement – Nigel explained that this could not be included. (2) If the road is widened then lorries will speed and should there be speed controls eg. flashing lights. This can be done in conjunction with the parish councils. In fact it is usually the locals who speed.

Nigel than asked if there were further concerns about roads in the area and the following were raised
1. Signage off the A1079 will be reviewed to discourage non-local HGVs. HGV signs on the A1079 at Bielby and Thorpe-le-Street will be re-sited.
2. The survey can be done again when Ash Lane is completed to see if any HGV movements are affected, though surveys are not cheap.
3. Nigel will send out more details from the existing survey.
4. John asked about safety issues in Everingham. Nigel agreed to put speeding indicators on the road to see what speeds are and whether there is a problem. In fact he will do this in all the villages. John Harland will work out where to put them and confirm this with us before going ahead.
5. Speed reactive signs are done in partnership with the parish councils. Melbourne has recently had two erected. Money can be borrowed from the Public Works Loans Board for the signs. The Parish Grant will not fund them. The signs are £3000 each.
6. Thornton to Allerthorpe Common road – passing places are a problem and there are no signs. The Forestry Commission needs to look at roadside parking and passing so EYRC will contact them.
7. John Scott-Whiteley reported that Hargreaves drove better after he talked with their manager. It was suggested that parish councils wrote to companies asking for improvements and if nothing was done to ask their MP to write on House of Commons paper.
8. A1079 drainage is poor near the Montessori School
9. Southfield Lane Seaton Ross is cracking in places, there are large holes at side of road and the lettering has worn off the Passing place notices.
10. Melbourne – the signage is in the wrong place for the B1228 and lorries overshoot.
11. Problem of overhanging hedges hiding road signs
12. Cross roads at Ash Lane and B1228 – for some reason traffic goes straight on instead of stopping at the Give Way sign and there have been a number of serious accidents. Can any improvements be made to signage?