Traffic survey backs villagers' fears (From Gazette Series)

Traffic survey backs villagers' fears

9:00am Sunday 17th February 2008 in News By Liza-Jane Gillespie

A TRAFFIC survey in Charfield has backed residents' claims that the area cannot cope with more development.

The traffic count taken along Little Bristol Lane for one week last month showed that on some days more than 1,000 vehicles used the road. On one day the survey clocked 1,194 vehicles.

The busiest times on the road were between 7am and 9am and 4pm and 6pm Monday to Friday, with as many as 150 vehicles in one direction alone being clocked during one hour.

The volume of traffic along Little Bristol Lane became cause for discussion last year when Charfield parish councillors and residents successfully fought a proposal for 14 flats to be built along Little Bristol Lane near its junction with Wotton Road.

The villagers' main objection to the development was the amount of traffic it would add to an already busy road and junction, but at the time the only evidence councillors could produce was a two-year-old traffic survey of Wotton Road.

Charfield Parish Council, which organised last month's traffic survey, said these new results could prove vital in any appeal brought by the developers.

Paul Ashford, chairman of Charfield Parish Council, said: "The information gathered this time seems to support the results of the 2006 survey of Wotton Road.

"We didn't realise just how busy these roads are until we did the 2006 survey, but these new figures show us traffic flow in other parts of the village.

"Little Bristol lane, as we thought, is very busy and we will be able to use these results in any appeal that might be brought for the flats."

The survey's results also showed that the busiest day for northbound traffic was on Wednesday, January 26, when 685 vehicles used Little Bristol Lane.

The busiest day for southbound traffic was Monday, January 21, when 1,194 vehicles used the road.

The busiest hour on the road was at 3pm on Monday, January 21 when 280 vehicles used Little Bristol Lane.

The traffic monitoring device, supplied by South Gloucestershire Council, also took note of traffic speed but vehicles were only found to be going between 25mph and 35mph. Little Bristol Lane has a 30mph speed limit.