| Site last updated [10.04.08]
Lutterworth Weather
I see that, much to the chagrin of the road haulage community, the Highways Agency has unilaterally decided to ban lorries from the outside lane of the A14 to ease congestion. One questions why the local authorities are not able to impose similar restrictions on Lutterworth Town centre, at virtually no cost, and place the problem firmly in the hands of those who cause it, on a similar principle to that of ‘polluter pays.’
If it's good enough for the A14, it's good enough for Lutterworth.
When you stand back and think about it, it's not actually our problem, it's theirs, so why not leave the hauliers to worry about lobbying the Highways Agency to help them out instead of allowing them to abuse our town by using it as a convenient shortcut.
Logically we would want to retain the car traffic into town in order to bring in customers to our shops, so a wholesale bypassing of the centre could actually be counterproductive.
After just one week of optimism following the Lutterworth Mail article proclaiming that an eastern relief road running adjacent to the motorway could be implemented, we are brought back to earth with a bang by the rebuttal of that view by David Nock of the Highways Agency who declares in his letter to the mail this week that, '' going to these lengths in the circumstances that applied to Lutterworth was likely to be very difficult to justify.''
I wait with baited breath to see if the scheme eventually agreed upon will bypass the town or just the views of the residents by plumping for the cheapest option. Presumably the A14/M6/M1 junction was the cheapest option at the time too. Now it is taking tens of millions of pounds to put it right [24.3.07]
How refreshing to see that one of our town councillors has taken the time and trouble to gather the empirical evidence needed to help rid Lutterworth of the endless chain of heavy goods vehicles damaging our health and physical environment (Lutterworth Mail 12/10/03). As a resident of Rugby road no doubt he has a personal knowledge and experience of the misery inflicted by these huge polluting beasts of the road. The link with Rosita Page’s views inside last week’s edition about the growth of traffic linked to further expansion of Magna Park is clear.
Councillor Seymour has rightly built his case on the evidence of -
- dangerously high pollution levels
- damage to property
- potential health problems linked in national and international studies to lung cancer, heart disease and breathing problems
As Councillor Seymour states, fuel particulates are carcinogenic and once in the lungs they do not go away, and even short periods of exposure are likely to affect individuals suffering from asthma.
I trust that solicitors and Barristers are sharpening their pencils and the Town, District and County Councils are preparing their budgetary forecasts for the multimillion pound individual and/or class action claims that will arise if those bodies simply move the problem from High Street to Brookfield Way and Bill Crane Way. They will hardly be in a strong position to defend their position after all, given the evidence above.
Unless you HAVE YOUR SAY thousands of lorry movements will be coming past the doors of local residents 24 hours every day.
The current estimate is 2500 lorries per day [ THAT MEANS ONE LORRY EVERY 30 SECONDS] but evidence from other bypass schemes suggests that projections like this are soon proved to be underestimates as traffic is drawn into new road systems.
In order to avoid a situation where the County Council will say that silence indicated agreement; please take this opportunity to forward your comment to him as soon as possible.
Correspondence I initiated with Andrew Robathan MP about pedestrian crossings along Brookfield Way has yielded a response from the county council. The following are (incredibly) direct quotes from their letter to Mr Robathan (which was copied to me).
‘The only facilities on the western side likely to attract pedestrian traffic are the playground and public open space.‘
‘In view of the absence of development on the western side demand will be low to cross Brookfield Way. Therefore formal pedestrian crossings such as zebra/ signalised crossings could not be justified.’
‘Brookfield Way is already subject to calming measures in the form of parallel hatching down the centre of the carriageway which reduces the lane width and as a consequence conveys the illusion of less road space thus promoting slower speeds.’
‘…based on the current ranking system, no traffic calming scheme is likely in the foreseeable future.’
What do YOU think? click Lutterworth and have your say
As I travel around the district it is hard not to notice that most villages and towns have their bypasses placed well beyond their boundaries.
Not so in Lutterworth where planning for the dispersal of heavy goods vehicles would have them running through developing residential areas of the expanding town.
The above is part of the text of a letter which the Lutterworth mail were kind enough to publish some time ago. As a resident of Lutterworth for around 20 years I felt quite strongly that residents views should be a leading factor in any decision making process regarding the traffic problems of the town. The website was set up as a means of opening that debate by providing a public platform for those who will be most affected by decisions on local management of traffic.
Graham Beck, Lutterworth
Check out the latest comments and contributions from local residents on the local comment page
I will publish any contributions, for or against, in the interest of a fair public debate
Remember if you don't make your views known you may end up reading about decisions that were made 'because the residents of Lutterworth don't really care one way or the other'
click Lutterworth and have your say
I wonder how residents of Brookfield Way would be able to cope with the quantities of rubbish (as are drifting about the dual carriageway section from the motorway) when the lorries thundering by their doors 24 hours a day spill various bit of their loads in transit.
just click Lutterworth and have your say
STOP PRESS 17.4.06
The Lutterworth Mail reports that a task team has been set up by the Lutterworth Town Council in a bid to solve Lutterworth's pollution and traffic problems once and for all. The declared aim of the investigation is to define the facts and not people's views of what they think is right at this stage. They will report back to the council in June, after which a public consultation could follow.
An unfortunate choice of words perhaps in aiming to exclude peoples’ views and grant only a possibility of public consultation on such an important issue.
Some thoughts on the Masterplan (regeneration study) exhibition at the Town Hall
1. I note that although the exhibitors declared that traffic planning was outside of their remit, they nevertheless committed a significant proportion of their display space to the topic. Interesting to note that of the 4 potential routes they illustrated to divert traffic from the Town centre, two followed Brookfield Way (designated as low cost options) and the other two illustrated possible changes to the motorway links (designated as high cost options). No room for alternatives and a clear focus on financial cost rather than the human cost.
2. The displays included a number of maps detailing potential areas in the town which might be earmarked for development. It would be interesting to see a map showing just who owns which parts of our town so that we can get a clearer idea of who (if anyone) has a vested interest in moving development in a particular direction.
3. I note that local entrepreneurs are quietly developing various bits of the town (there is no criticism intended here) without reference to the ‘Masterplan’ and wonder what scope there really is for the various local authority bodies to bring their plans and dreams to fruition in light of this activity.
GB 01/05/06
just click Lutterworth and have your say
Magna Park and Lutterworth viewed from space (Google Earth)
Maybe I am missing something here but can someone explain to me why it is that existing minor roads running from the A5 at the rear of Magna Park and extending almost to the Leicester Road cannot be upgraded, and the final part developed, to send heavy traffic well beyond the confines of the town and indeed well away from Bitteswell which has suffered enough.
Image produced from the Ordnance Survey Get-a-map service. Image reproduced with kind permission of Ordnance Survey and Ordnance Survey of Northern Ireland.
click Lutterworth and have your say
Do YOU want to live on the largest
traffic island in the country?
Proposed route (marked in red) for the Western Relief Road, along Brookfield Way
Image produced from the Ordnance Survey Get-a-map service. Image reproduced with kind permission of Ordnance Survey and Ordnance Survey of Northern Ireland.
Or on an island where you can breathe
some fresh air
A possible alternative (marked in purple) taking traffic right away from the town and safeguarding the quality of life for future generations
 click Lutterworth and have your say
Image produced from the Ordnance Survey Get-a-map service. Image reproduced with kind permission of Ordnance Survey and Ordnance Survey of Northern Ireland.
If you wish me to post your views onto the site
then just click Lutterworth and have your say
Image produced from the Ordnance Survey Get-a-map service. Image reproduced with kind permission of Ordnance Survey and Ordnance Survey of Northern Ireland.
Just click Lutterworth and have your say
|
