The Liberal Democrats have launched a School Crossing Patrol Campaign for St Swithun Wells School in Hillcrest Avenue, Chandler's Ford. Not long ago they tried to have a PERMANENT 20mph speed limit outside Fryern Junior and Infants School. They also want to reduce the speed limit to 50mph on the M3 between Junction 12 and the M27, supposedly to make the motorway safer and to reduce noise.
Not surprisingly, Hampshire County Council turned both the school requests down as there is a much better way. A 50mph speed limit at the M3/M27 junction isn't the answer either. I am prospective UKIP candidate for the Chandler's Ford East ward in the borough elections in May, and I am particularly concerned about road safety, being a member of the Institute of Advanced Motorists.
Let's deal with Hillcrest Avenue first.
The problem is actually parking at the beginning and end of the school day - and the Borough Council operates a county wide Parkwise scheme:
http://www.eastleigh.gov.uk/pdf/Parkwise260509.pdf
and this is what it says:
Eastleigh Borough Council Parking
Enforcement Team
Since October 2004 Eastleigh Borough Council has been responsible for the enforcement of
certain on-street parking restrictions in the borough. Civil Enforcement Officers do regular
morning and afternoon checks at schools in the borough and will issue Penalty Charge
Notices (PCN’s) for:
• Stopping on school zig zags
• Parking on double yellow lines
• Parking in residents and disabled parking
bays where a valid badge is not displayed
• Parking in taxi ranks
• Parking outside marked bays
• Staying too long in time limited waiting areas
• Failing to pay and display a valid parking
ticket where there is a parking charge
Hillcrest Avenue is not particularly busy so School Crossing Patrols are better employed where the traffic can be heavy, such as at Fryern School in Oakmount Road.
As far as I am aware parents are generally satisfied with safety in Hillcrest Avenue and feel no need for a school crossing patrol, although parking does give rise to concern. If elected, I shall endeavour to make sure that parking restrictions at the schools are enforced. and that the schools will continue to work with the parents to make sure that they observe the rules noted above and also - and in particular - that cars are not parked so that they block residents' driveways.
What would be particularly helpful in Oakmount Road is a temporary 20mph speed limit outside both Fryern and Toynbee Schools at the beginning and end of the school day. At the top of this blog is a photo of a scheme in place in Bembridge, Isle of Wight. I have blogged about this before and Ukip, with 10 county councillors, is in a position to push for this where appropriate.
Motorway Speed Limits
Left-wingers always want to impose unnecessary restrictions rather than assessing what the best action would actually be. And this applies particularly to our motorways. Jackie Porter and Pam Holden-Brown are launching a campaign to impose a 50mph speed limit between Junction 12 and the M27 to - they say - make the motorway safer and to reduce noise. They want to know what we think of this idea.
This section, of course, is where the motorway divides so traffic can go both east and west on the M27 and I use this part of the motorway a lot. There is particularly good signage and it is very rare to see traffic crossing lanes dangerously.
At Junction 13 the motorway reduces to two lanes as it goes east and west to join the M27, so it bends right and left depending on which way the traffic is going. There are two problems at this junctions:
- Much traffic entering the motorway to go both north and south does so far to slowly, often at only 40mph.
- Traffic going west from Junction 13 frequently uses the outside lane while travelling at a low speed of about 50mph, leaving the inside lane empty, as it negotiates the right-hand bend, and vehicles then get stuck behind as it cannot "undertake." Therefore, far from traffic being driven fast, it is going slowly and bunching, which is dangerous.
So, evidence shows that rather than speed being a problem, it is the lack of it that is causing potential accidents. The answer, therefore, would be to use the cameras in place on these stretches to monitor driving habits and advise motorists via the overhead gantries to move over to the nearside lane when necessary. The gantries should also be used to impose variable speed limits, which can be mandatory rather than advisory when the need arises. This would be a lot more effective than a permanent 50mph speed limit, which would simply cause bunching and frustration when there is no need for it.
