Mixed feelings as one-way system made permanent

A CONTROVERSIAL one-way system has been given the permanent green light after a report found it reduced the number of cars on the roads.

In January 2004 Rushmoor Borough Council decided to shut off a rat run in North Camp to try to reduce peak-time congestion.

This prevented traffic from travelling south down Park Road to the roundabout junction with Lynchford Road.

The plans received a mixed reaction from residents welcoming the move and drivers complaining that it increased their journey time.

After a report carried out by traffic consultants, the council’s cabinet decided to make the move permanent last Tuesday.

The survey showed there had been an overall reduction in traffic in the North Camp area since the one-way system was set up, with traffic using the A325 Farnborough Road to access the A331 Blackwater Valley Road.

It also showed that road safety and environmental factors had been significantly improved in Park Road and Queens Road, with fewer cars on the roads and traffic moving more freely.

Jim Pettitt, the council’s head of Street Scene Services, said: “Traffic flows have settled down and queue times reduced.

“Some residents remain inconvenienced by their journey routes through the area, but hopefully they will see the overall benefit of the scheme and work will continue to see how this can be improved.”

Ward councillor John Starling said he is overjoyed that the council has made the one way system permanent.

“It’s an extremely good thing, especially for the people in Park Road,” he said.

“I have been talking to residents and they are very much in favour of it, not entirely, but the vast majority are.

“There was an upheaval but that’s the normal resistance to change. People going to school and people going to work have all benefited from it.”

But Claire Fedder, who lives in the nearby Sycamore development Corfe Way, said the one-way system has made things worse.

She said: “Making it one- way has made it more dangerous.

“I now go down the road at 40mph but I used to have to go at 10mph because you had to weave around the cars.

“Everybody now passes residential roads and schools and the council is totally ignorant of what they have done.

“I am just disappointed the people locally couldn’t be bothered to support me when I was willing to fight so hard.

“I feel cheated. As residents they asked for our opinion but ignored it.”

She added: “I did not buy my property with a one-way road.

“I am just generally cheesed off with it.

“I had to pay extra to have parking and a garage and I feel cheated. Why should those people living in Park Road have parking when they did not pay for it when they purchased those houses and they knew they would not have parking?”

The scheme started as Park Road residents complained that poor driving and bad parking meant it was unsafe for children walking to school.

Many residents were unable to park outside their own houses, which has now been remedied by the scheme.

Source : www.farnborough.co.uk