Residents welcome feasability study
Meeting to discuss traffic on Osborne Road, Wisbech. Photo from left: Tony Orgee, Michael Howard, Sam Hoy, Margaret Forshaw (resident) and two county officers
Options on how get heavy lorries and farm traffic off Osborne Road, Wisbech are to be looked at after campaigning residents met with local councillor Samantha Hoy to discuss the issue.
Michael Howard, who has been campaigning for a northern link-roadfor nearly 20 years, hosted the meeting at his Osborne Road home recently when other residents together with Miss Hoy and Tony Orgee, county council cabinet member as well as council officers also attended.
He highlighted his previous campaign for a link road connecting Crab Marsh to businesses on Osborne Road and explained the current £2 million road improvement scheme being carried out to improve roads and drainage in Wisbech’s North Ward had shown how much quieter life could be for residents if heavy traffic did not have to pass their homes.
The roadworks in Osborne Road have forced HGVs and tractors, as well as other traffic, to find alternative routes to the scrap yard, farm and other businesses in the area and Mr Howard said the difference was amazing.
He said the narrowness of Osborne Road means heavy vehicles are rumbling past close to houses causing vibrations and noise disturbance.
He also believes the current scheme, which will see Osborne Road completely rebuilt and widened with the footway and lights will be a waste of money if the heavy traffic continues to use it.
“It is not being done to motorway standards, so it is not up to accommodating such a large number of heavy lorries and tractors and it will probably need redoing again in six months,” said Mr Howard.
He said a survey undertaken back in 1996 when he first started his campaign showed 11 tractors, 11 buses (six double decker), 57 lorries and 959 cars and lorries used Osborne Road in just 12 hours.
Since then traffic has increased several fold with the creation of 115 new park homes, and the massive expansion of the scrap yard.
Miss Hoy said: “The residents want the HGVs off their road to stop the damage to their properties. After a long chat with residents who all were very passionate about the area, it was agreed that there would be a feasibility study to look at options available.”
She said the study would look at a raft of options from a new link-road to encouraging businesses to use different routes as well as working with neighbouring Norfolk council to see if there is something that can be done jointly to solve the issue.
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Thursday 23 May 2013
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