Tackling the Impact of Traffic
Published: 14 January 2023
You Said:
In our Residents’ Questionnaire, you said:
- Living in Broomfield is generally great – but not the level of traffic (94% of responses dislike/dislike a lot)
- Only 2% of responses think it’s okay (60% say ‘Too heavy most of the time’ and 38% say ‘Too heavy at peak times’)
- Overall, you support the following measures to reduce the impact of through traffic:
Vehicle-activated speed warning signs Village entry treatment (gateway and markings to indicate entry to village)
So We Did:
We’ve started a strategy to reduce traffic and the impact of traffic. The basic idea is to lobby for things that both make life more bearable for Broomfield residents and make Main Road a less attractive route for through traffic compared to Essex Regiment Way, including:
- Create new safe cycle paths and footpaths, plus improve existing pavements, so that cycling and walking become more viable options
- Create more safe crossings on Main Road for pedestrians and cyclists (Toucan Crossings), connecting the two sides of the village and making it feel more of a community
- Add 2 more signalised junctions: at Main Road/School Lane (Angel Green); and Main Road/Erick Avenue/Ashford Place to make it easier and safer for local people to get out of residential roads
- By doing all these, make Main Road a less attractive option for through traffic compared to Essex Regiment Way. If there are enough crossings on Main Road, Essex Regiment Way won’t seem quite so bad for through traffic, despite all its roundabouts!
Of course, everything we try to achieve to make Main Road less attractive for through traffic will inevitably affect local drivers as well. Tell us if you think we’re getting the balance between cars, cycles and pedestrians about right - or not.
Of course, we’re not holding our breath!
Trying to improve the Highway is a long process and not for the faint-hearted! Highways are governed by a host of regulations, mostly for safety – for instance where you can place signs in relation to junctions. Underneath or alongside the Highway are usually a number of pipes, cables etc which can’t easily be moved. There has to be consultation on any changes. Then there is the cost, particularly as contractors have to meet certain standards.
So, the Neighbourhood Plan is just the start. If you think the ideas in the Plan are worth pursuing, the Parish Council will try to do that. It will have to get the support of Essex Highways (the County Council) for each idea, as they are in charge of most roads – that will be a long job. But despite all that, we think it is worth doing, because the level of traffic has such a detrimental effect on living in Broomfield at the moment.
Tell us What You Think:
For more info, please read Chapter 12 of the Neighbourhood Plan on Traffic and Travel.
Also, look at the maps we’ve produced to show our ideas so far. We are waiting for a response to these ideas from Essex Highways, so there will no doubt have to be changes.
Then answer Questions 36, 37 and 38 in the Consultation Response Form to tell us if you think we’re on the right lines, so far.
And tell us in Question 38 if you have more ideas or comments - for instance, where would you suggest putting further crossings, traffic lights, traffic islands, speed cameras (assuming you support them in principle).
Finally, send us a message via Contact Us if you’d like to help with a working group to support the Parish Council. We need people to measure air quality, monitor the state of pavements, lobby the Highways Authority, complete bids for funding for improvements, and much more.
Coming next: In our next feature, we’ll talk about ‘home zones’ for residential roads