Question
The Local Access Forum for Mid & West Berkshire is keen to understand why we were informed by WBC in 2015 that funds for a project to improve safety with a Crossing in Mole Road were being identified in 2016 with a feasibility study underway, but subsequently found that it was to be included, sometime in the future, in the Greenways project which is for 'quiet commuting and leisure', not safety.
When, why and by whom was the decision made to downgrade this issue?
Minutes:
Question
The Local Access Forum for Mid & West Berkshire is keen to understand why we were informed by WBC in 2015 that funds for a project to improve safety with a Crossing in Mole Road were being identified in 2016 with a feasibility study underway, but subsequently found that it was to be included, sometime in the future, in the Greenways project which is for 'quiet commuting and leisure', not safety.
When, why and by whom was the decision made to downgrade this issue?
Answer
The crossing on Mole Road has not been specifically identified as a priority safety scheme.
You will no doubt be aware that there are significant pressures on Council budgets and therefore to prioritise our spend and to provide best value for money, we target locations using a structured, data-led approach. This ensures that the greatest impact is achieved using the limited amount of money available. As a result action has to be targeted at those locations where incidents are presently happening to address specific sites of high casualty density rather than those sites where there is a perceived safety problem and few, if any, actual injuries.
However, the Council does recognise the local concern in relation to safety in this location and has been examining the options for commissioning a feasibility study to identify if a crossing could be provided on Mole Road and what the potential cost would be to deliver it. The most pragmatic way to accommodate this feasibility study (given that it is not a priority safety scheme) is as part of the Council’s ambitious Greenways project as the crossing on Mole Road is clearly linked with a Greenway route. The Greenways project will be funded as part of a phased approach over a number of years, the order of which has yet to be agreed as it depends on the complexities of the various routes in terms of land ownership issues, environmental constraints and overall costs.
Finally, once we have an agreed programme for the delivery of the Greenways we will be able to provide an indication as to when a crossing could be provided. Currently there is no capital funding allocation for the Greenway project delivery until the financial year 2017/18.
Supplementary Question
The point we keep trying to make is that it is not a question of perceived risk on this road people are fearful using this road. It is very fast and in fact when residents were engaged in a monitoring study the police stopped us from doing it as they said it was too dangerous. So actually what we are seeing there is an avoidance of use. In light of the previous question that has just been asked, about a crossing for people who are trying to get to leisure facilities and so on, I really think it deserves a higher priority than is currently being given.
I will feed back your response to the Local Access Forum. I would also like a response to the supplementary question I asked a few weeks ago which I still haven’t had a response to. It has possibly fallen through the cracks with the change of Executive Member.
I would like to make the point that you might be aware that recently there has been the death of a boy in Essex where a public right of way is interrupted by a main road. Do we really have to wait for a death before something is done?
Supplementary Answer
Councillor Ashwell advised that he had the answer to Mrs Heard’s previous question which he would e-mail to her.
The Leader of Council made the following comment:
We take on board your comments absolutely seriously and I will ask Malcolm to revisit that priority in light of what you have said. I cannot promise anything but we will revisit it.