Joy over Highcliffe road safety victory (From Bournemouth Echo)

Joy over Highcliffe road safety victory

3:00pm Wednesday 3rd February 2010

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FRUSTRATION has turned to joy for residents in Highcliffe campaigning for better road safety as work to install new measures is due to start in days.

Delighted residents who went head to head with Christchurch Borough Council to improve safety along Chewton Farm Road will soon see four chicanes placed at different points along the so-called rat run, with work due to start on February 8.

A consultation last year on whether the road should be turned into a cul-de-sac ended in disappointment for the residents when councillors voted against an officer recommendation to close one end of the road, looking at other options.

One resident, Sheila Aldous, said: “We are really pleased. From the start we said we wanted to see either the road closed or measures which would achieve a dramatic change. We feel we’ve really achieved something to keep our community safer.”

A study of speeds in the road, which has a 30mph limit, showed that 85 per cent of drivers were driving at an average of 37.4mph.

Chicanes are to be formed by widening verges locally to give the appearance of a single lane carriage-way with smooth curves to blend in with the surrounding environment.

The work is due to take six weeks and will close the road to traffic, but access will be available for businesses and residents.

Cllr Sally Derham Wilkes, chairman of the community services committee, said: “We trust these traffic calming measures will slow the traffic down.” closure due to speeding traffic, the committee decided that this would cause problems when traffic diverted to other roads in the vicinity.

“We trust that these traffic calming measures will slow the traffic down as the residents of the road wished to happen.”

EXTRA MEASURES

At the same time as work starts on Chewton Farm Road, three pedestrian refuges will be put along Hoburne Lane in Highcliffe. The work was marked as a priority after it was discovered that nearly 25 per cent of drivers were exceeding the 40mph speed limit.

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