Objection

Officer Comments

The footway build-outs will cause congestion as traffic flows increase with future development. (22)

The scheme has been modified to replace the footway build-outs with pairs of speed cushions.

The scheme is unnecessary. Very few vehicles travel at excessive speed. Parked cars keep traffic speeds down to about 30mph. (2)

We want to reduce the speed exceeded by the fastest 15% of vehicles to about 25mph. For most of the time there are only two or three parked cars along the whole length of Oxford Lane.

The accident record does not justify the expenditure on the scheme. (4)

This is a Community Safety scheme. It is proposed because of the perceived risk of accidents. It does not have to be justified by injury accidents which have already happened (there have been 2 in the most recent 5 years).

The scheme will cause rat-running in Mayfield Avenue. (4)

The scheme will only delay vehicles by about 15 seconds. However coupled with the existing measures in Main Street, the scheme could be the "last straw" for some drivers. Traffic flows in Mayfield Avenue are being measured and will be measured again after completion of the scheme. If a significant increase is found, traffic calming measures for Mayfield Avenue will be considered.

The scheme will cause rat-running in St John`s Road. (2)

This is very unlikely, as rat-running drivers would have to go very slowly at the Vale Avenue / St John`s Road Junction. However traffic flows in St John`s Road are being measured before and will be measured again after the scheme has been completed.

The increased intensity of the street lighting from proposed new lighting columns adjacent to the speed cushions will cause an unacceptable level of illumination on bedroom windows. (2)

IN RESPONSE TO FORMAL CONSULTATION.

At the speed cushions outside "Old Herriards", the offending proposed new lighting column will be omitted and the two existing nearest ones fitted with brighter lamps. This might not be a satisfactory solution outside No 17 Oxford Lane, however modern street lights spread light into adjacent gardens much less than those installed before about 1988, and therefore there will be very little light on the bedroom windows of No 17.

The speed cushions will cause noise and/or vibration. (5)

There will only be significant noise and/or noticeable vibration when a commercial vehicle or a vehicle with a trailer is driven carelessly over a speed cushion instead of straddling it, or at excessive speed onto or off the raised-table junction. The occasional noise from this will be offset by the lower level of vehicle noise generally achieved through lower speeds. At the raised-table junction vibration may be noticed occasionally in the nearest houses. The only houses close enough to a speed cushion for vibration possibly to be felt are the Old Cottages. In both cases any damage, even superficial, is extremely unlikely.

The money should be spent on repairing the existing carriageway of Oxford Lane. (5)

The surfacing at the raised-table junction will be designed to strengthen the carriageway. The condition of the existing carriageway is worst within this area; part of it will be reconstructed if found to be necessary. Elsewhere, repairs will be included in the Countywide road maintenance programme.

Whenever there is heavy rainfall, Oxford Lane is flooded at the site of the proposed speed cushions outside No 30 Oxford Lane. Drivers driving through the floods will not be able to see the speed cushions. (6)

The frequency of flooding will be reduced by additional gullies. However more expensive improvements would be necessary to prevent a once-in-two-years minor flood (which is the target standard of highway drainage). Drivers driving through a flood would be going so slowly that running over speed cushions would definitely be harmless.

A mini-roundabout at the junction of Oxford Lane with Mayfield Avenue should be considered instead of speed cushions outside Nos 17 and 30 Oxford Lane. (3)

A mini-roundabout at that location would delay vehicles on Oxford Lane eastbound, which would have to give way to vehicles turning right out of Mayfield Avenue. That would encourage rat-running along Mayfield Avenue. Also, a single mini-roundabout would be less prominent than the double mini-roundabout proposed for the North Drive / St John`s Road junction.

A pelican or zebra crossing west of the junction of North Drive with Oxford Lane should be considered; it would contribute to safety more than the proposed scheme. (5)

A pelican crossing would not be justifiable here, and it would not be appropriate for a residential road. A zebra crossing could be added later within the raised-table junction (about 9 metres west of the nearest give-way line of the double mini-roundabout, where the School Crossing Patrol operates at present) if found to be desirable.

Two speed cameras would control vehicle speeds and be more cost-effective. (6)

They would only confine speeds to about 35mph. We want to reduce the speed exceeded by the fastest 15% of vehicles to about 25mph.

There should be double yellow lines either to prevent parking by parents near the North Drive / Oxford Lane junction at school travel times, or to prevent parking all day along one side of Oxford Lane (4)

Some parents would ignore the waiting restrictions when setting down or picking up their children. Many people living on Oxford Lane would object to waiting restrictions on one side of the road, which would cause more people visiting by car to walk across the road.

The speed cushions will give disabled people in cars, vans and ambulances a very uncomfortable ride. (2)

That will not happen provided that the vehicles are driven with due care and attention. Even a small car can cross the speed cushions at 15mph without causing any discomfort, and any vehicle can enter/leave the raised-table junction (where there will be a double mini-roundabout) at 5mph without causing any discomfort.

Full-width humps would be cheaper and just as effective as pairs of speed cushions. (2)

Full-width humps would cause unacceptable delay to ambulances and fire engines, and discomfort for bus drivers and passengers.

The speed cushions will not be effective in reducing vehicle speeds. (2)

In Wootton Road, Abingdon, a system of similar pairs of speed cushions, installed in February and March 2002, reduced the speed exceeded by the fastest 15% of vehicles from 32mph to 25mph. Other completed speed cushion schemes have achieved similar speed reductions.

Traffic signs outside a house which is a listed building would reduce its value. (1)

The siting of traffic signs in front of listed buildings will be avoided.

The proposed mini-roundabouts will cause confusion for pedestrians, particularly children who cross Oxford Lane where the School Crossing Patrol operates only a few metres west of the North Drive junction. (3)

The double mini-roundabout will restrict the speed of vehicles passing through it to about 15mph. The children will cross about 9 metres from the nearer edge of the double mini-roundabout and will be supervised by the School Crossing Patrol, and drivers will have to give way when she raises the pole.

The centres of the mini-roundabouts should be raised with kerbs in order to make them more prominent. (1)

Kerbs would not be able to stand up to the stresses from turning vehicles running over them. The carriageway surfacing will be domed by about 50mm.

At the double mini-roundabout, vehicles from the side roads turning right at the same time will obstruct each other. (2)

In order to obstruct each other, each vehicle would have to swing 2 metres to the left before turning right. For drivers to worry each other, they would each have to swing 1 metre to the left before turning right. In practice they will not swing to the left at all.

The double mini-roundabout will confuse drivers. (2)

That is unlikely to be a problem. Drivers who are not familiar with the road layout will approach more cautiously.

The mini-roundabouts are not necessary. (2)

The double mini-roundabout on the raised-table junction will make vehicles travelling straight along Oxford Lane reduce speed to about 15mph, even if no other vehicle with right of way is already on the roundabout or approaching it.