Agenda item

The Committee will receive a presentation on the King’s Lynn Transport Study.

 

More information is available at https://www.west-norfolk.gov.uk/info/20010/regeneration/696/kings_lynn_transport_study

 

King’s Lynn Transport Study Documents are available to view at https://www.west-norfolk.gov.uk/downloads/download/768/kings_lynn_transport_study_documents

Minutes:

The Committee received a presentation from Alan Gomm, Local Plan Manager and Peter Jermany, Principal Planner on the King’s Lynn Transport Study.  A copy of the presentation is attached to minutes.   The Committee was informed that the questions / comments would be considered as part of the report to Cabinet.

 

The timetable for the Study was also outlined to the Committee.

 

In addition to the comments raised at the meeting, Members were invited to send in their questions, following the meeting, which are included below:

 

Questions / comments received from Councillor Kemp:

 

1.         The Transport Plan has no sense of urgency about fixing the crumbling infrastructure of the West Lynn Ferry and making it more accessible. This needs to happen now, as the Ferry is the Park-and-Ride for the west.

 

2.         The Transport Plan should rule out placing additional types of traffic on Hardings Way bus lane, that was built specifically to speed up buses into the town centre, sustaining the viability and reliability of the commercial bus service, successfully reducing pollution and congestion from London Road by removing buses, improving air quality in the Air Quality Management Area as a result. Planners do not realise they could have to repay the £5.3 million transport grant to the government, if they diminish the outputs of the CIF2 funding.

 

3.         The Transport Plan should increase buses on the A10 at peak times, to help tackle congestion through West Winch and Setchey, the worst performing section of the A10.

 

4.         It should rule out the current idea of 300 homes on the A10 before the bypass.

 

5.         After 18 months, the Lynn Transport Plan is still not fit for purpose. It still has no serious proposals for Park-and-Rides. It should be asking major employers how to encourage their employees not to bring cars into the town centre, but it is not. 

 

6.         It has no plans to work with bus companies to bring the Clenchwarton and West Lynn buses back to every 20 minutes. It must take this forward now.

 

Questions / comments from Councillor Mrs Wilkinson:

 

1) Regarding Pathway Queen Mary Road.  We do not want any extra traffic coming on to Fairstead via this proposed plan.

 

2) Winston Churchill Drive Entrance near to Queens Way.  This entrance should have Traffic Lights, as it is very difficult to exit onto Gayton Road.  Very heavy traffic from the A149 Roundabout.  Traffic school buses etc turning into Queensway the only option to exit either right or left is when the lights are Red at the Cycle Path going towards the hospital.

 

3) Widening the exit from the QEH Again we do not need any further traffic on to Winston Church Drive NCC would not do a Survey for Permit Parking. The roads and Centre Point Car Park are bursting at the seams with the overflow from Staff and People visiting the hospital who do not PARK in the QEH Car Park. There is a Planning Application ongoing at the present, that we would lose over half off our car parking spaces, which again will pass more cars onto the highway. NCC have raised no objections.

A further exit onto the A149 needs very considerable thought, as the exit at the present time from the slip road, you cannot see the oncoming traffic to enter onto the A149 going towards Hunstanton.

 

Questions / comments from Councillor Bambridge as follows:

 

More notice should be taken of residents’ needs. Currently the survey is about moving vehicles (cars and buses) in and out of the town, parking for vehicles coming into town with no consideration for residents’ parking and little heed about heavy goods vehicles or the need for pedestrian crossings.

 

The Friars

The loss of traffic lights at the London Road/Valingers Road makes access difficult into the Friars and for the many households that can only leave by Valingers Road or Southgate Street, both roads that have obscured vision. There is one other road for access - Checker Street - this has a bend in the road at both ends, is one way, narrow and is used mostly by residents. The refuse trucks find it difficult to get along the road and have even had to access by the no entry end.

 

Residents in the Friars ask for residents parking (also Bridge Street and All Saints Street) as people working in the town centre park in these roads and walk into town. This was the case in Highgate and roads nearby and the residents parking has been beneficial.

 

Tennyson Road/Goodwins Road/Vancouver Avenue are very busy roads. There are SAMs and a 7.5 tonne lorry ban, both pushed for by residents. There are no pedestrian crossings yet children cross to go to the three secondary schools and cross the other way to go to the three primary schools.  A Speedwatch Group was set up and vehicles frequently break the speed limit.

 

Southgates Roundabout delays are caused by traffic lights. There is often an opportunity to get onto the roundabout because there is no traffic from the right but because the traffic lights are on red it holds up vehicles trying to get onto the roundabout.  There is also a need for proper pedestrian crossings here. I’ve watched adults and children going to school trying to cross but not being able to because vehicles don’t stop.

 

Staggered times for schools they already have staggered times.

 

Unnecessary signs why add to the prolific signs already in situ especially in the “heritage” area when nobody heeds them in particular the ‘dismount’ signs and direction signs? Cyclists rarely dismount and ride in the town centre and the wrong way along one way streets.

 

Comments / questions raised by Councillor Tyler

 

I support Cllr. Bambridge’s suggestion regarding the necessity for a crossing across Tennyson Road / Goodwin’s Road etc. I also am aware of safety issues whilst attempting to cross the road by Trues Yard Fisherfolk Museum (a dreadful ‘blind corner exists), and one also has to walk through to 2 sets of traffic lights in order to enter Lynn Library from The Walks. The better positioning of a crossing would be useful, if impractical.

 

Comments / questions raised by Councillor Bone

 

I agree with all of the points raised by Councillor Bambridge and would also like to add that more should be done to encourage people use public transport or cycle to reduce people’s need to use their cars.

 

Comments / questions raised by Councillor Joyce

 

First issue is buses using Hardings Way that originate from the East or South of the town.  It should be possible to enable this to happen.

 

Ministerial statements at the time made it clear Hardings Way was funded through CIF2 to allow the NORA development to proceed.  It was granted planning consent as a public transport route only.  Would there be an issue were it to be open to more general traffic?  It is part of Route 1 on the Sustrans route which runs from the Shetlands to Dover and is part of EuroVelo 12.  If the aim is to encourage cycling and tourism traffic on allowing general traffic onto Hardings Way would be detrimental to the aim.   

 

I support Councillor Bambridge’s suggestion of a controlled crossing on Tennyson Road.  Preferred option would be close to the railway crossing, but recognise obstacle of Network Rail.  Such a crossing would enable pedestrians and cyclists to travel from West Lynn and South Lynn to the Fairstead Estate and QEHKL without coming into conflict with motorised traffic.  Schools should be encouraged and supported where necessary to promote safe routes to school via cycling and walking, but without such a crossing it is difficult.

 

The route from Reffley to Springwood is not user friendly, especially in dark months.  Should lighting up to or beyond the British Standards be introduced, especially solar lighting.  The same with other routes used by pedestrians and cyclists that are dark in some months. 

 

While I am sceptical as regards residents parking seeing it as a money raiser for NCC which is open to abuse, there does need to be an investigation into the freeloader scenario, explained by Councillor Bambridge, and how it can be curtailed.

 

A link road from Nar Ouse Way to Wisbech Road is difficult to deliver, but has no chance of reducing traffic problems on Southgates Roundabout, because all traffic going into the town or other areas of Lynn will still have to use the Southgates Roundabout.  The present link road between Nar Ouse Way and Saddlebow Road was originally the best piece of traffic calming in the country.  Even joyriders observed the limitations placed on them by the traffic calming measures.  These have been weakened, but still are reasonable.  It should be noted that £9 million of Government funding was granted with a view to take traffic off Saddlebow Road between the Interchange and Southgates.  That funding was specifically for Nar Ouse Way.

 

A park and ride system implemented in the South of the town linked to the railway would alleviate substantial traffic along London Road.  If the Parkway station is ever built the opportunity would be there to use the rail track as a passage into town.  Similarly, a car park could be used as a means to the Saddlebow Road Industrial Estate were there to be a controlled crossing which could also ease some of the problems when the speedway stadium is being used.  This would offer several businesses the opportunity to expand into their own car parks, or release them for other businesses to make use of.  

 

There should also be other park and ride centres with the QEHKL being an obvious location, only with development up rather than out.  Although much will depend on the concrete cancer at the QEHKL and whether or not it necessitates a move.  Another could be close to the Pullover Roundabout.

 

Assuming the QEHKL remains where it is a direct link to the A149 should be given serious consideration.  This would alleviate some of the problems on Gayton Road which causes many of the problems on Fairstead Estate.

 

Questions / comments raised by Councillor Jones

 

Q1 Has anybody thought about a one way system in and out of the hospital ?

I’m aware that there is some thought of an exit straight onto the A149

Q2 If your duelling the A149 between the hospital and Knight’s Hill should you not also dual the A149 between the hardwick and hospital roundabouts ?

 

Currently if you are travelling from the hardwick to the hospital roundabout you start going from 2 lanes to 1 then it opens to 2 lanes for the roundabout in between then goes back to 1 lane and then opens to 3 lanes at the hospital.

Text Box: Current bottlenecksText Box: Dual between these 2 roundabouts as well

 

 

Councillor Collop stated that as this was such a large issue, he would like the Committee to be updated so that they could keep updated on the Study’s progress.  The Chair agreed to ensure that the item would be on the work programme to discuss as and when required.