Minutes of Public Meeting held on 31st March 2022
Minutes from the Public Meeting held on 31.3.2022 at The Keal’s Village Hall.
Present:- Cllr Smith, Cllr Gray, Cllr Taylor, Cllr Boxer, Cllr Cooper, Cllr Kemp, Ms K Nettle Area Highways Manager, Mrs E Martin (Clerk) and 23 residents.
Apologies:- These were received from 5 resident. Some had submitted comments which are included.
Cllr Smith welcomed everyone to this public meeting called to enable residents to express their view regarding the number of accidents on Hall Corner and speed through the village.
Cllr Gray shared what progress has been made recently by LCC Highways. He stated that he, Kyra Nettle and Hannah McKinlay (representing EPKC) had held a walkabout through the village to view the problems in person. Since then a survey has been undertaken, by LCC, assessing the camber of the road. Because of concerns he has escalated this issue through the LCC scrutiny committee and Mr G Butler, Accident Investigator Manager, is now aware of the issues.
Ms K Nettle, from Highways stated that since this walkabout, road markings have been refreshed (although some residents felt they now need redoing), but she felt there is a good level of provision to justify road improvements, because of the impact on local residents and their economy. She stated that East Keal, Hall Corner, is not classed as one of the most dangerous bends in the County because the criteria for this is taken from personal injuries and fatalities.
She acknowledged that the cause of so many accidents is traffic speeding round the bends, although there is ample signage to warn drivers of the potential hazards, this seems to be ignored.
She stated that she had spoken to Welton Aggregates and has had a discussion with them.
She also felt that there could be some sort of engineering solution that she could implement.
Cllr Taylor explained that he had no power to do anything, he was here to support residents. He suggested that residents train under the community speed watch scheme. Drivers found to be speeding do receive a letter of warning. Some residents were cynical about this having any impact in the long term.
Residents concerns were:-
The speed through the village making it difficult to cross the road.
The number of accidents damaging property on Hall Corner bend.
The increased volume of traffic through the village.
Damage to mains services after a recent accident which meant that the mains water was shut off for the village.
Impact on single track lanes around the village when an accident has occurred. These lanes do not have suitable passing places for HGV’s to pass other vehicles.
Lorry drivers using mobile phones whilst driving through the village.
The number of near misses with vehicles travelling too fast and unable to keep on their side of the road and crossing the white lines to get round the bend.
One resident felt that small road safety adjustments often only moved the problem to another area and a long term solution was required.
Why there was never a speed van situated in the village as often occurs in other villages?
Sibsey often have a vehicle in the village and it is noticeable that traffic does slow down.
Drivers ignore the speed signs therefore something physical needs to be put in place to reduce drivers speeding.
Reduce all road speed limits by 10mph.
The speed of traffic on the A16 down the hill towards Keal Cotes where there have been fatalities. The speed reduction in place by Balfour Beatty has had an impact on speed reduction, but once this is complete the speed reduction will be lifted.
When walking on the footpaths, which are quite narrow in places, vehicles passing create a backdraft which can blow you off your feet.
Some residents felt altering the camber would have little effect what is needed is a speed camera between Saracens Head and Hall Corner.
20mph painted on the road.
Flashing speed limit signs.
Average speed cameras.
Flashing lorry tipping sign.
Accident total board.
Traffic Lights on the bend. Not everyone was in agreement over this proposal. Some drivers would still jump the lights.
Speed camera signs even if no camera.
Speed camera average speed through the whole village.
Pedestrian crossing to enable residents to cross the A16 safely.
Some speed calming measures.
Different road colouring.
Road narrow markings on bend to warn HGV drivers of the tightness of this bend as there is insufficient width to allow two HGV’s to pass if they meet head on on this bend.
What can be done to protect residents using the footpath?
Can the kerb be made higher?
Can the Armco barrier be higher?
Every accident which occurs and causes the road to be closed creates gridlock in the village and along the A16.
There was a lot of criticism that nothing had happened over the years to resolve the problems on Hall Corner. It was felt that more could be done by LCC/Highways/Police to support residents’ concerns.
Ms K Nettle responded to some of the comments.
She felt that to use skid resistant paint on the roads would not be appropriate in this instance.
She explained that the bends super-elevations are not continuous and she could possibly get this surface realigned. She thought this and other speed reduction measures would improve the situation. She heard all our concerns and would do her best to get some improvements in place.
Another issue raised regarding Hall Corner was about the amount of flooding when we get heavy rains. There is a need to keep the drains clear and to clear the pipe under the road more frequently. The resident concerned felt it was not his responsibility to keep the water gully clear where the water came out from under the road.
Questions were asked about the criteria used for road improvements in light of LCC cut in road improvement budgets.
Flashing speed lights. Cllr Smith suggested that if residents wanted this they could fund raise and apply for grants.
Ms K Nettle was given the date of our next Parish Council meeting and it is expected that by then we should have received a response from LCC.