Minutes:
Mr. Jeffrey Kauffman asked the Chairman the following
questions under Standing Order 35:-
A6 Oadby to
“1. Was
the
2. Who is it that decides
what is a major or minor change?
3. Does the change of design of the road layout alter the
4. On what grounds did the
5. What monitoring and evidence of improvement of bus running
times has there been during the experimental period?
6. Are you aware that since the bus lane was announced, a bus
company has ceased operating on the Oadby route?
7. What percentage of buses that do not stop at the racecourse
bus stop, use the bus lane?
8. Have speed checks been carried out on the few buses that
actually use the bus lane?
9. Do you agree that all buses that use the bus lane have to
pull out into a 40mph carriageway at the end of the bus lane? This was not in
the original design of the road layout?
Safety Concerns
10.
How
can it possibly be safe for the residents to exit their driveways by
reversing their vehicles into a 40mph bus lane, (bearing in mind the buses tend
to travel in excess of this limit) – it is not difficult enough
with pedestrians walking behind our vehicles when trying to reverse out?
11.
The
original service lane was implemented to provide safe ingress and egress to the
driveways of the residents’ houses. What was the reason behind its
implementation?
12.
How
can we possibly hitch up caravans, trailers etc without contravening the
restrictions you have provided?
13.
This
is an urban area and heavily used by pedestrians and cyclists, so why have we a
40mph speed limit with buses in excess of ten tonnes travelling at this speed
only feet away from the public?
14.
How
can disabled drivers wishing to visit park safely without contravening the
restrictions presently imposed?
15.
The
properties in this row were sought after, however, our experience shows
that since the introduction of the bus lane and the no-loading and parking
restrictions, house values have dropped and the interest in these properties
has waned because of the restrictions implemented. There is also ‘rumbling’ and
shaking of nearby houses when buses travel past. Has consideration been given
to compensating residents for this devaluation?”
The Chairman replied as follows:
“1. When the
Order is drafted and passed to the
2.
The impact of any design
changes is determined by the teams involved with the design in the Environment and
Transport Department. They are therefore best placed to assess whether such
changes are of sufficient magnitude to warrant being brought to the attention
of Members, and if necessary subjected to further consultation. This was not
felt to be the case with this scheme.
3.
The need for a 24 hour bus lane
is assessed on the basis of highway safety, clarity and enforceability, as
addressed in Question 1 above, and this is not affected by the reduced extent
of the bus lane referred to in this comment.
4.
The letter referred to is the
Statement of Reasons referred to in Question 1 above. The use of the former
service lane for parking was assessed by video survey in the early stages of
the scheme. The survey indicated that
the service lane is only lightly used for parking, and all the frontages have
off-street parking.
5.
Peak hour bus journey time surveys before and after the scheme was implemented have
reduced by 44% between the
6.
The service that has ceased
operation is the 131 evening service; the route is still used by six remaining
services, one running every 12 minutes during the day, and every 30 minutes in
the evenings and at weekends.
7.
This has not been explicitly
measured. However, as noted in Question 3 above, bus drivers must use their own
judgement as to whether or not to use the bus lane, depending on whether
journey time will be saved. If there are no passengers waiting at the
Racecourse stop, and if there is little or no congestion, then it may well be that
no journey time will be saved in using the bus lane, and there is no pressure
on buses to do so in these circumstances.
8.
Bus speed surveys carried out
on three weekdays since implementation of the bus lane show that the speed of
85% of buses using the bus lane between
9.
The extent of the bus lane was
curtailed from that shown at consultation for two main reasons:
o
More detailed design identified
the need to provide a wider bus lane than initially envisaged to allow safe
joint use by cyclists, and this was too wide to be accommodated alongside the
existing general traffic lanes on the approach to the Racecourse roundabout
beyond the bus lay-by.
o
Consultation with cyclists
revealed that cyclists wishing to stay on-road over the roundabout often wish
to begin positioning themselves on the road earlier than the end of the
bus/cycle lane as it was shown in the consultation plan, beyond the lay-by.
Leaving the lane as it was would have left cyclists with uncomfortably sharp,
and hence dangerous, manoeuvres to make if they were to be positioned
appropriately at the roundabout.
In order to make the
bus lane available to all traffic at off-peak periods, it would be necessary to
realign the traffic lanes to provide continuity of the nearside (bus) lane. An
option has been investigated to address this issue by realigning the lane into
which the bus lane runs – it currently terminates in the bus lay-by – so that it
aligns with the nearside of the carriageway between the lay-by and the
Racecourse roundabout. Traffic in the offside lane is merged into the middle
lane by the same point. It is, however, felt that this arrangement:
o
would involve a sub-standard
taper over the merge length for the speed of road concerned;
o
would adversely affect the
behaviour of traffic running up to the Stoughton Drive South signals, which
would need to begin to merge ahead of the lights in order to be in the
appropriate lane after the signals, with significant consequences for
congestion at peak times;
o
would encourage this behaviour
most at peak hours, when traffic flows and congestion would be likely to be at
their greatest, and when the greatest amount of traffic would be in the offside
lane;
o
would be potentially confusing
for traffic turning right out of Stoughton Drive South, again particularly at
peak times, needing to choose between joining the centre lane directly, or
joining the offside lane and needing to merge into the centre lane almost
immediately;
o could pose problems for cyclists using the bus lane and staying on-road, potentially being placed in conflict with traffic crossing to the nearside lane after the end of the bus lane.
10.
If there is insufficient space
within the property to turn vehicles round, the Highway Code suggests that
motorists reverse into and drive out of driveways giving onto main roads. To
ensure the greatest safety therefore, frontages should reverse into accesses.
Regardless of whether reversing or driving forwards, however, it is incumbent
on the motorist to exercise appropriate care when emerging onto the Highway.
11.
After this length of time the
reasoning for the provision of a service lane at this location is not clear,
however regardless of the reasons, it is certain that traffic and wider
environmental conditions were not as they are now. It is now considered that
better use of the service lane can now be made by buses.
12.
The presence of the bus lane prevents
stopping within the bus lane, and hitching/unhitching trailers and caravans
cannot be considered a loading/unloading operation, so this must be carried out
away from the bus lane, if it cannot be undertaken within property boundaries.
13.
Reference is made in Question 5
to the appropriateness of the current 40mph speed limit. There are many
instances in the County where a 40mph speed limit applies in areas used by
pedestrians and cyclists.
14.
Disabled people are not
permitted to park in the bus lane at any time as the order currently stands.
Therefore, if possible, space should be made for the duration within the
existing off-street frontage parking provision for disabled people to park or
be dropped off.
15. Although there will be some noise and vibration from traffic on the A6, it is unlikely that the situation would have worsened for frontages at that distance from the road as a result of buses moving one lane closer. Indeed, the nuisance from a bus moving at a steady speed in the bus lane would be likely to be less than a bus further away subject to stop/start conditions at congested times.”