Plea to get rid of speed humps
FRUSTRATED residents are calling for "nuisance" speed humps to be removed from a street in Bourne.
Lincolnshire County Council’s highways department installed 30 speed cushions in Beech Avenue in March at a cost of 60,000.
But people living near the street say there is now a build-up of traffic in the surrounding streets as drivers use other routes to avoid the nuisance humps.
Alan Brain, 51, of Poplar Crescent, said motorists were using smaller roads, including Saxon Way and Westbourne Park, which were not built to deal with heavy traffic.
He wants to see the humps removed and called on other concerned residents to write to Bourne Town Council in protest.
Mr Brain said: “The speed humps have made Beech Avenue an assault course.
“The community is now using alternative routes which were not designed to take that sort of traffic.
“It could be damaging the roads.
“It is also awkward for small cars to get over them.
“I am sure the humps are going to cause problems for cyclists because there is a route for cyclists but there are bits sticking out.
“They are a nightmare and are an accident waiting to happen.”
He said he was not consulted on plans for the traffic calming measures even though the only routes to Poplar Crescent are through Beech Avenue.
Brian Hart, of Pinewood Close, and Philip Booth, of Poplar Crescent, echoed Mr Brain’s concerns at a meeting of the town council on Tuesday.
Coun Trevor Holmes, who lives in Poplar Crescent, said the humps had succeeded in reducing traffic in Beech Avenue but said it had moved the problem elsewhere.
Mayor Shirley Cliffe plans to meet the highways department to talk about residents’ complaints.
She said: “I am going to leave it a few weeks because it is only a couple of weeks since they put them down and then I will go and speak to residents.
“That way we can see what the problems are for ourselves before we go to the county council to tell them we think they are a waste of money.”
County council area highways manager Kevin Brumfield said the design of the humps was widely advertised before they were installed following a planning committee meeting in February.
He said: “Comments from members of the public were invited with all comments taken into account and every property on Beech Avenue also received a letter detailing the proposals.”
He said they were due to be reviewed after 12 months.
People with concerns about the speed humps should write to the town council at Bourne Town Hall in North Street, Bourne.
n What do you think to the speed humps? Are they helping to slow down traffic or just moving the problem elsewhere? We want to hear your views. Write to The Local at 28a West Street, Bourne, PE10 9NE, call a reporter on 01778 425876 or e-mail news@bournelocal.co.uk.
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Friday 25 May 2012
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