Issue - meetings

Albemarle Road and Bromley Road Cycle Schemes

Meeting: 19/01/2022 - Environment and Community Services Policy Development and Scrutiny Committee (Item 156)

156 ALBEMARLE ROAD AND BROMLEY ROAD CYCLE SCHEMES pdf icon PDF 678 KB

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Minutes:

ES20151

 

The report was introduced by the Assistant Director for Traffic and Parking who explained that the report had been drafted to seek approval for the modification of cycle lanes on Albemarle Road and Bromley Rd and also to retain Westgate Road Bridge as one directional traffic. It was pointed out that at the ECS PDS meeting on the 11th of March 2021, the Portfolio Holder had made a decision which recommended that the Albemarle Road experimental scheme be subject to further reviews and consultations and because of this the report was now being presented to the Committee.

 

The Assistant Director for Traffic and Parking highlighted what he considered to be the main recommendations as outlined in the report:

 

1.  The segregated cycle lane which currently existed between the junctions with St. Georges Road and Westgate Road should be retained.

 

2.  It was recommended that the segregated cycle lanes that existed between the junctions with Westgate Road and Bromley Road be removed and that two directional traffic be reinstated.

 

3.  The junction of Albemarle Road with Bromley Road should be changed to ‘no entry’ from Bromley Road and then left turn only towards Shortlands.

 

4.  There should be no change to the one way traffic system that was currently in operation on the railway bridge in Westgate Road.

 

The Ward Member for the Copers Cope Ward, (Councillor Michael Tickner) said that there were two items referenced in the report which had not been taken forward in terms of recommendations. He stated that he would like to add two more recommendations to those that had been outlined in the report. His two additional recommendations were then disseminated to Members by the Committee Clerk.

 

Cllr Tickner said that his first recommendation derived from paragraph 3.15 of the report which referred to cars and cyclists disobeying the one way instructions. In view of this, he proposed an additional recommendation, (Recommendation 2.7) which read as follows:

 

  I.  In view of one way traffic on Westgate Railway Bridge being often dangerously ignored by cyclists, a ‘cyclists dismount’ sign be erected on the south side of the bridge and police be requested to take enforcement action.

 

Councillor Tickner then referenced section 3.18 of the report which referred to the junction of Westgate Rd and Albemarle Rd. The report noted that this junction had in fact been the subject of three safety audits in total. However  the consultation indicated that most responders thought the junction should be redesigned. The report went on to say that the designs for the junction would therefore be considered independent of the recommendations in the report and would rather be approved under delegated powers. Councillor Tickner stated that he was not happy with the recourse to delegated powers in this case and he proposed an additional recommendation, this would be Recommendation 2.8 which read as follows:

 

  II.  Proposals for a reconfiguration of the junction of Westgate Road and Albemarle Road be submitted to the next meeting to include an option for the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 156