Memorandum by Living Streets—Hebden
Bridge (RTS 23)
THE NATURE AND EFFECTS OF ILLEGAL AND INAPPROPRIATE
ROAD TRAFFIC SPEED IN THE UK
I wish to submit evidence to this inquiry on
how road traffic speed affects people in various parts of Calderdale
and particularly in the Hebden Bridge area.
I am a local contact for the Pedestrians Association
in Hebden Bridge. In this capacity, I am a member of the Transport
Focus Group of Calderdale's LA21 Sustainability Forum and have
been involved recently in consultation on traffic reviews for
Hebden Bridge and Todmorden.
BACKGROUND
Calderdale consists of Halifax and the smaller
towns of Sowerby Bridge, Brighouse, Elland, Hebden Bridge and
Todmorden as well as many villages, hilltop communities and remote
rural areas. In Halifax, 20mph speed limits have been introduced
in a residential area and in the town centre, the latter as part
of a zones and loops system to reduce through traffic and make
the centre more friendly to pedestrians and public transport users.
The Transport Focus Group and Calderdale Friends of the Earth
have pressed for a borough wide programme of 20mph zones, Home
Zones and other measures to improve quality of life in the various
Calderdale towns. In October 2001, Calderdale Council engaged
a consultant to undertake road traffic reviews for Hebden Bridge
and Todmorden and, following consultation, traffic counts and
other research carried out during the autumn of 2001, the consultant's
reports are expected soon.
HEBDEN BRIDGE
Hebden Bridge is located in a steep valley through
which the main road route is the A646 trunk road. Space is at
a premium throughout the town and pavements are narrow everywhere
and in many spots are non-existent. Most houses have no front
garden and front directly onto the road. These factors intensify
the impact of speeding traffic for local residents. There are
three main approaches to the town from hilltop communities. All
are very steep and with dangerous bends. The A646, a key route
for commuter and commercial traffic, is also a shopping street
and a residential street in the communities through which it passes.
There are many points where crossing the road is extremely hazardous—a
good example being in the vicinity of King Street, Mytholm, where
two bends reduce visibility and traffic frequently travels too
fast for the conditions and dangerous overtaking is commonplace.
In spite of these difficult conditions, accidents
are remarkably infrequent and in the absence of casualties the
council is unlikely to prioritise safety measures. There is an
urgent need for a new approach to the kind of difficulties caused
by traffic speed, taking into account impacts on quality of life
as well as simply counting casualties. As consultees during the
Hebden Bridge traffic review, members of Calderdale Friends of
the Earth and the Pedestrians Association urged adoption of 20mph
speed limits in the town centre and on approach roads to the town,
combined with effective enforcement. The speed camera schemes
shortly to be piloted need to be extended much more widely and
applied not only in areas with high casualty counts but those
where traffic speed is affecting quality of life and producing
either actual or perceived danger.
SOWERBY BRIDGE
Residents of Lower Bentley Road, Sowerby Bridge
have found that since construction of a new housing estate nearby,
with many two and three car households, they are suffering from
additional traffic speeding through their area to the estate.
In response to a request for "slow" signs, the council
told residents the policy was to prioritise sites with significant
road safety implications but that it would endeavour to carry
out the work in the forthcoming financial year. In nearby West
Street, two pensioners have recently been knocked down, one by
a hit and run driver, compounding residents' concerns about road
safety in their area.
HALIFAX
Residents at Willowfield, Halifax are seeking
help from speed cameras and other speed reduction measures to
tackle speeding traffic along a stretch of road which, while not
built up on either side, must be crossed by local residents, many
of whom are elderly. They may find, however, that their problems
do not meet present criteria, requiring prioritisation of areas
with a high rate of casualties.
SUMMARY
Speeding traffic blights lives. Low casualty
rates may mask a situation in which many people are so intimidated
by traffic as to avoid going out on foot. Present funding levels
restrict the extent of assistance which the council can provide
and requests for road safety measures must join a waiting list
prioritised in terms of casualties occurring. In Calderdale, we
urgently need a borough wide programme of traffic calming, home
zones and properly enforced speed limits so that people do not
have to join a long waiting list to have their road danger concerns
addressed. Current funding regimes do not appear to facilitate
this approach and Government action is needed to make sure councils
are able to respond to residents' legitimate demands for streets
in which they and their children may walk, cycle, play and live
in safety.
Myra James
Pedestrians Association Local contact—Hebden
Bridge
January 2002
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