Neighbours from hell?

Some details from the latest CBC-Amey customer service bulletin


People are ignoring markings and parking opposite our driveway on a narrow road making it very difficult or impossible for us to access our property.  As a result of the parking the grass verge outside our house has been seriously eroded. We raised the problem over a month ago but no progress seems to have been made



Response:
Anonymous report unable to respond to customer.    The Council has adopted policies and rules for managing the highway network through its Local Transport Plan.     This has been developed to reflect the key transport needs of the community.   From these key needs a works programme is developed to reflect local priorities in collaboration with Central Bedfordshire elected Councillors, and Town & Parish Councils.     Resources for implementing changes to the highway network are limited as there is a continuing need to target resources where they will result in the greatest benefit. Therefore for your request to receive further consideration, it is important that it:    a) Aligns with the general priorities of the Council.  b) That the request has wider local support from others in your area.  c) That the request receives the support of both your Central Bedfordshire Councillor     and your Town or Parish Council.    Requests that have this support may be included in a future programme of works when other work is also scheduled in your area, in which case you would receive feedback to that effect.
my own suggestion is that the complainant also involves Cranfield Parish Council. 


Nice people in Cranfield?

I would like to know how long before something is done about the trees which overhang all our gardens to the rear of REDACTED. We have all complained & NOTHING IS DONE. The trees are the property of the house to the rear. The owner has been asked politely to trim the trees & his response was "REDACTED off...I want my privacy."

Black holes

Black holes aren't just in other galaxies. We have plenty in Cranfield known as potholes. Here are some of the latest reports on the highways customer services bulletin. The previous blog post about uni road closure obviously links in with the last item. I won't witter on about doing a job properly.




•  10 May: 3 to 4 fairly deep potholes that are growing larger each day Location of pothole: in middle of road, outside no 11 Springfield Way, and at the exit of Springfield Way No update

• 9 April: letter rec'd, forwarded to Beds Admin. 2 potholes, one junction with Lordsmead, the second halfway between Lordsmead and Mill Road.  
order raised to repair a pothole.

• 17 April: 30 ft tree has come down due to the wind over the footpath, road and path, Numerous trees are doing the same thing, it looks like more are about to fall down
landscape team to attend to location, remove fallen tree and dangerous dead trees


• 19 April: A very half-hearted job of filling in potholes on main road through university. Still pothole near eastern 30mph sign, still potholes on first mini roundabout, still potholes outside bookshop, still potholes on second mini roundabout and still potholes between second mini roundabout and Trafficmaster roundabout. 2 out of 10 but improvement needed. A pothole has now appeared around a drain cover near one of the speed humps on the dual carriageway at the front of the Trafficmaster building. we are arranging a road closure to repair these.

Patching works

So, is it good news or bad news? Looks like some long overdue action is happening on University Way at Wharley End. The bad news was almost zero notice that University Way would be closed, off and on, for five days from today. Surely they plan their schedules a bit further in advance than that? See the notice and diversion map below.

Proposed Emergency Temporary Road Closure

Technology Park Roundabout to College Road University Way, Cranfield

I have a request for an Emergency Temporary Road Closure at the above location to enable carriageway patching works to be carried out in safety. Details are listed in the schedule below and having assessed the application I am satisfied the request is justified.

The alternative route for this closure is as in the details below and will be signed accordingly. The restrictions are to be in operation only when the necessary signs are erected on site. This notice will cover a five day period. Access may be allowed from time to time according to local signing.

Potholes and other matters

Highways and Transport at CBC have written to the PC, setting out some useful detail on the Highways programme for 2013-14. For the Cranoraks the full letter is pasted down below. For those with better things to do here is the executive version.
 

• Maintenance comprises  roads and footways, highway bridges and culverts, street lighting works and drainage schemes. 
• Bridges and culverts, street lighting improvements and replacements and drainage schemes are based on greatest need. 
• Roads and footways involve intervening at the right time in the life cycle of the road to achieve best value for money. 
• Potholes: CBC will deal with category 1 and category 2 carriageway defects within 10 metres of the category 1 at the same time. 
• Last year CBC increased  funding for road and footway maintenance from just under £4m to nearly £9m and  has maintained this higher level of funding for 2013/14. 
• Reporting: Residents should register online account with CBC at  www.centralbedfordshire.gov.uk which means they can check progress.

Central Bedfordshire Prioritised Works Programme 2013/14

Please find attached a copy of the 2013/14 programme for highway maintenance and local improvement schemes.

I would like to thank all of you who responded to the consultation last summer. Through early commencement of the process we received a record number of 327 responses this year, up on the 185 we received last year. We have looked at each of these and included them where possible within the programme.  


Maintenance Schemes

The maintenance schemes programme comprises structural maintenance schemes for roads and footways, highway bridges and culverts, street lighting works and drainage schemes.

The programmes for bridges and culverts, street lighting improvements and replacements and drainage schemes are based on greatest need throughout Central Bedfordshire, however, for roads and footways, we are continuing with the approach we started last year to intervene at the right time in the life cycle of the road to achieve best value for money.  This year’s programme incorporates a large surface dressing programme and a programme of thin paving.


Maintenance Repairs

As a result of public comments regarding the way we work on potholes we are changing the way we deal with them. Funding has been made available to deal with both category 1 and category 2 carriageway defects within 10 metres of the category 1 at the same time. This work will be done over a slightly longer five-day timescale.  



The Local Transport Plan (LTP) Programme

The programme of improvement schemes is drawn up via Local Transport Plan 3 2011-2014.

In 2013/14 improvement schemes will be carried out in the existing LTP areas plus three new areas:

•    Chiltern
•    Haynes and Old Warden
•    Potton

These programmes have been drawn up at Local Area Transport Plan (LATP) meetings which were held with elected Members and local councils to discuss projects for the LTP programme.  Full copies of the LATPs can be found on the Councils website.   


Budget

The Council agreed the budget for 2013/14 in February. You may recall that last year the Council doubled the funding for road and footway maintenance from just under £4m to just under £9m and I am pleased to be able to inform you that it has maintained this higher level of funding for 2013/14. It has also maintained the increased funding last year for lighting and bridge maintenance while maintaining the funding for drainage schemes.

To present a more complete picture of forthcoming work in your area, the programme includes schemes funded by the Council and those funded by contributions from developers. If you would like information on the developer-funded S106 and S278 schemes in your area please contact me so that I can refer you to the appropriate Officers.


Making it easier for you to report highway issues

More and more residents are using the internet to do their shopping and banking.   In a recent survey, over half of our residents said they wanted to use the council’s website to report issues and apply for services.  We have been working hard to improve our website to ensure we can meet these modern day expectations.

The first online service to be launched is an improved form for reporting highways problems.  Residents can now report a whole range of highways issues online from potholes and faulty streetlights to vandalised signs or drainage issues.  The new form enables residents to pinpoint a fault on a map and upload a photo of the problem.

Residents (and Councillors) are also encouraged to register for an online account with us. The full registration will mean that individuals can check progress on the issues they have reported to us and access many more services that the council will be launching online over the next few months.

You can register for your new account by clicking on “Register” in the red box on the home page of our website www.centralbedfordshire.gov.uk

With 8 in 10 residents accessing the internet every day this is an important first step in our strategy to make more of our services available online, enabling you and our residents access to our services at a time that is convenient to our customers.
Paul Mason
Head of Highways and Transport Services
paul.mason@centralbedfordshire.gov.uk

Getting deeper

I think it's getting to crunch time on pot holes. No joking. The winter before last it seemed like you had to keep a wary eye out for where the bigger ones were and drive around them. But now it feels like a debate about whether to go down a road at all. The best example is College Road and University Way at Wharley End.  I think I had been in denial but the last time I was there I was aghast. Huge yawning gaps. The PC is chasing highways about this as it is a main thoroughfare - not that Springfield Way doesn't deserve attention as well. As previously blogged the customer service bulletin is chocker with pothole reports.

I think the College Road specimens will need expert cavers and pot hole rescue guides to get to the bottom of them. Ouch. 

The issue has been given national prominence  by the President of the AA no less who warned about the dangers and then got his own car crunched. Read about it in The Guardian

By the way its on the agenda for the PC meeting on Wed 3 April.

Customer service

Flooding is showing up some issues with the recently installed  traffic calming. 

However the churned up grass verge is nothing to do with flooding. See below extracts from the most recent  CBC customer service bulletin with Amey's response in red.


Flooding during heavy rain at the newly installed "raised platforms" at the junction of Bedford road  and Crane way.

this is being assessed.

High Street opposite Marshall's hardware shop and in front of some cottages there was a flood over part of the road- this is not far from the new raised platform at the Merchant Lane junction.

thanks, this is being assessed.

Following traffic calming works, footpath was extended and grass verges implemeted as well. A lorry from Cranfield Haulage mounted the pavement, churned the newly laid verge dragged a lot of mud around, and drove off. This verge is now an eyesore, can this be inspected with a view to be re instated?

work is in hand to repair this.

Pots and parking

Here's the latest from the Highways customer service bulletin. The issues about the poor quality of the Springfield Way road surface have already come up and as a former resident (quite a while ago) I would agree with that assessment. The issues about parking are ongoing and very frustrating for those who live in the areas affected. 

On the Parish Council we are constantly pushing for at least 2 cars per house parking space for new developments but in the past there has been a lower ratio. Flitt Leys is a real mess with the hot food takeaway parking. This was pointed out four years ago when the development first came up. Did anyone listen? Of course not.





Customer Service Bulletin
During my routine inspections I came across at large pothole at the junction of Springfield Way, Cranfield and Mill Road.  Could this be looked at please?


People are constantly parking in the turning area at the top of the close (Maltings), meaning people have to reverse out onto Merchant Lane which is a blind corner due to parked cars anyway. Recently an ambulance was called for the customer and that had to reverse out into Merchant Lane almost having an accident. Please investigate the possibility of parking restrictions in the turning area.


Customer would like some parking restrictions placing on Lordsmead, as residents are parking vans on verges and are blocking junctions and vision splays. email fwd to Transportation team

Request to assess new layout of bus stop at this location.  Resident concerned that when bus is at bus stop other traffic has difficulty  passing & vision is obscured. Why wasn't a bus lay by constructed, which would allow traffic to pass safely ? Instaed bus stop protrudes into carriageway.

Highways

The highways customer service bulletin is a fascinating document. There is nothing like a road full of holes to make an area look shabby. An excel spread sheet, it details all the reports of highways matters and actions proposed and taken. They also indicate some of the difficulties we have in getting action. 

Extracts from the latest one for instance, mostly filed by parishioners:

7 April

Email request for vehicle activated sign to be inspected as parish council states this is not working - comments as follows " The speed notification sign has not been working for months despite having reported the matter on a number of occasions.   Would you be kind enough to investigate please – if the speed device is not in your remit, please could you point me in the right direction. 

Inspector's notes

Passed to Engineer responsible for Vehicle Activated Signs

Current status

PASSED TO TRANSPORTATION TEAM FOR INVESTIGATION

29 May

Numerous potholes and very deep gullies along the side of the road, that will cause damage to cars and/or the driver to lose control, if they are forced into the gullies by oncoming traffic, due to the narrowness of the road. VERY HAZARDOUS!  Location of pothole: Numerous places along Astwood Road, Cranfield between it's junction with Bourne End Road, Cranfield and it's junction with Crawley Road, Cranfield.

Inspector's notes

we have repaired the worst, the remaining will be assessed.

Status

CLOSED - NO FURTHER ACTION REQUIRED

But is this just a patch up job? In which case after another winter of moisture and ice the pots will be breaking out all over again. You could lose yourself just in potholes alone. My own pet project at the moment is the entrance to Washingleys which looks like a moonscape. I will report on progress in future posts.