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I hope you will have had an opportunity to read the Parish Plan which was delivered during June. .Here is an update on some of the progress, and some of the problems with the implementation of the Traffic and Transport action plan to date. (A summary of the Traffic and Transport Action plan can be downloaded below).
A list of proposed actions from the Parish Plan were sent to the Community Development Agency and Hertfordshire Highways. A meeting took place with the representative from the Community Development Agency on the 5th June to review the list of items suggested in the Parish Plan requiring Hertfordshire Highways involvement. These items included;
Actions to reduce traffic speeds on the main roads (Arlesey Road, Turnpike Lane and the Bedford Road).
A raised pedestrian crossing outside the school.
Creation of a footpath on Chambers Lane.
A pedestrian/riders crossing at Cadwell Bridge.
The Community Development Agency have agreed to recommend taking these items forward to Hertfordshire Highways (with the exception of the Cadwell Bridge crossing) for further evaluation. Unfortunately, they stated that the crossing at Cadwell Bridge did not meet their sustainability targets, while this is disappointing this does preclude the village still trying to obtain funding from other sources to carry this forward. The Community Development Agency will work with Hertfordshire Highways and we expect to hear the results in the September/October 2007 timeframe whether we will be successful in proceeding to the detailed planning stage.
The Ickleford Traffic & Transport group have also been working with Hertfordshire Highways maintenance team to try to ensure that the quality of the pavements and roads in the village are improved. Repairs have been carried out at several locations around the village, however not always to the standard required. During another survey carried out we found that many of the items previously reported had not been repaired, and had deteriorated future over time. An additional 26 new items have also been reported to the Hertfordshire Highways call centre (01438 737340).
On items which do not require Hertfordshire Highways involvement we have also been making progress. Regular speed monitoring has started to be performed by the police in the village, and while there were initial problems with the speed guns being used this has now been corrected and these will be performed on an on-going basis. Whilst, up to today speeding tickets have not been issued for drivers breaking the speed limit it is intended that this will commence at a future time.
While the Ickleford Traffic & Transport group have to date had little success as yet on persuading Stagecoach to improve their services in the village, they have reviewed our request to provide a service that goes to Hitchin Station, but at this time they do not believe this is would be cost-effective. However, they will keep our request on record. Better news is that from the 5th August Centrebus will change the 171 service to be renumbered the 82 and it will start serving Hitchin Station, however it will not penetrate further into the village but can be boarded on the Bedford Road. (see Bus Service)
We will continue to try to get action items from the plan implemented and will update you regularly on progress.
Cllr Tim Stephenson - Chairman of the Traffic and Transport Group
July 2007
 Summary of the Traffic and Transport section (158 kb).
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