Viaduct re-opening but A46 traffic lights going

Claire Young at the traffic lights on the A46

 The good news is that the council is planning to re-open the Bromley Heath Viaduct over the weekend of 27th April.

The bad news is that this coming weekend they will be removing the temporary traffic lights on the A46 near Tormarton, at the junction with the B4465 Westerleigh Road, which were installed to manage traffic diverted by the viaduct works. To carry out the removal there will be four-way lights in operation from 8am on Saturday until 6pm on Sunday.

Many local people believe these lights have made the junction safer. With the help of all of you that have shared your views with us, we've already convinced the council to start looking into a permanent solution. If it's to happen though we need to make sure this is a high priority for funding. If you would like to see permanent traffic lights installed and you haven't already signed our petition, please do it today.

They couldn't have had the temporary lights operating during the Badminton Horse Trials anyway - this junction will be controlled by the police as part of their traffic management for the horse trials. 

The A46 junction lights have been put on South Glos's list for future investigation and assessment, but if a new scheme is put forward it won't be for ages. Please sign our petition to keep up the pressure.

Make the A46 temporary traffic lights permanent

Cllr Claire Young at the Tormarton junction

Temporary traffic lights have been installed on the A46 at the Tormarton junction while the Bromley Heath viaduct works are being carried out. Local people have told us that overall these have improved safety but the lights will be removed once the viaduct works are complete.

We believe that a permanent solution is needed. We are calling on the council to work with Highways England to resolve any concerns about the manoeuvres allowed and traffic building up on the J18 roundabout so that permanent traffic lights can be installed. If you agree, please sign our petition.

Dodington Parish Council has also written to South Glos asking for these lights to be made permanent. They have also asked for traffic lights at the Nibley Lane bridge - the temporary lights there made things a lot easier for local drivers.

Park and Fail

 

Residents of South Gloucestershire have been shocked to learn that Highways England have no idea about long standing hopes for more sustainable parking at the Tormarton motorway Junction.

Highways England closed the Picnic /Parking Site last year without any consultation, resulting in more cars dangerously parked on the nearby verges.   Sue Hope (Liberal Democrat, Cotswold Edge ward) has been fighting for years to get a formal Park and Share site at this busy junction.  This would be of vital strategic importance to the area, and dramatically reduce congestion on local roads.  It is included in the West of England Joint Transport Plan.

Sue said: “I was shocked when a Highways England Officer told me they had no idea about the vision for a Park and Share site on the A46, nor did anyone on her  staff.

“We desperately need better communication between agencies. I can’t believe what’s going on. Instead of opening it up, and improving local transport, they’ve simply closed the location. People are now parking illegally on the grass verges – because there’s nowhere else for them to go! I can’t believe they could be so short sighted, or so ignorant of what we want for the area. They’ve acted without so much as a by your leave, or any thought amongst themselves.

“We need a proper joined up approach, with a formal Park and Share site. This area could really help improve local transport, and it needs to be properly run.”

Composting plans dropped

Your Focus Team has welcomed news that plans for a composting facility near Tormarton have been dropped. Over the past two years, Lib Dem Councillors have repeatedly raised concerns about the choice of technology but despite plenty of evidence of problems elsewhere in the country were told that their fears were unfounded. Now the Council is introducing a new waste strategy that does not require an In-Vessel Composter (IVC) to be built and which will lead to food waste eventually going to some sort of anaerobic digester.

Now attention turns to alternative uses for the Tormarton site. Cllr Sue Hope says, “Before this site was earmarked for the composting facility, I had called for a Park and Share facility to be set up there. Now this major stumbling block is out of the way, I have asked South Gloucestershire Council to look at the proposal again as a matter of urgency. Many motorists already leave their cars in the car park attached to the picnic site while they share a lift along the motorway. Often vehicles overflow into surrounding roads. Expanding the parking would improve road safety, by keeping parked cars out of the narrow country lanes, and help the environment, by encouraging car sharing.”

Tormarton composting facility - Environment Agency withdraw their objection

The Environment Agency have written to South Gloucestershire Council to say that they are now prepared to conditionally withdraw their objection to the planning application for a composting facility near Tormarton. This follows the submission of further technical information by the applicants to the Environment Agency regarding odour management as part of the Environmental Permitting process.

However, there is still the holding objection to the application by the Highways Agency which needs to be resolved before the application could be reported to Committee. There is no indication at this stage of the timescale for the Highways Agency to lift their holding objection.

You can read the letter on the South Glos website.

Tormarton composting application

The consultation period has started for SITA's in-vessel composting application for the highways depot site near Tormarton. You can view the extensive case file and make comments on the South Glos website. According to the website, the deadline for comments is 9 September, but local Councillors were told it was the 8th. Either way, there isn't long to make your views known.

Residents and Parish Councils affected by the previous composting application near Westerleigh were angry that no residents were notified of that application because none lived within 100m of the site. Claire Young took these complaints to the Executive Member at the Select Committee and this time the Council have contacted all those within 900m. This includes some people living in the part of Dodington Parish within Westerleigh ward.

If you would like further updates on this application, you can join our composting mailing list by sending an email to:
focus-on-composting-subscribe@googlegroups.com

Thanks to our sister blog for this article.