To receive any requests for Deputations, Presentation of Petitions or Public Questions.
Minutes:
(i) The Council received the following Public Questions from Mrs Galton which were responded to by Councillor Rayment, Cabinet Member for Environment and Transport:
Question 1
Is the Cabinet Member happy with the lane priority changes in Newman Street and why was this specific change introduced in the first instance?
Answer
With Park Street open to two-way traffic, motorists intending to join Shirley High Street city-bound are likely to use Park Street, therefore leaving the right-turn lane on Newman Street redundant. We therefore changed the right lane to allow vehicles to turn right and carry on ahead in order to split the traffic using the street.
Question 2
Is the Cabinet Member happy with the roll out of the opening of Park Street to all traffic, especially public awareness of such a major change?
Answer
After listening to concerns raised by users after the initial implementation of the scheme, we reviewed the location to see what could be introduced to assist with the layout changes and installed another set of directional arrows on the carriageway closer to the junction of Carlisle Road. Additional temporary signage was also included at the entry to Park Street to advise of it being open to all traffic.
Question 3
What involvement did the Cabinet Member or the 3 local Councillors have in the design of these schemes and what was the total cost of each scheme?
Answer
The removal of bus lane on Park Street and amendments to Newman Street road markings were delivered as part of a package of works which included installation of cycle infrastructure on Shirley High Street, re-cutting of the traffic signal loops affected and adjustment to the signal staging and timings. This was delivered as one package of works as all measures impacted on each other given their close vicinity to each other and to reduce disruption to the highway while works were delivered. The removal of bus lane on Park Street was initially part of the Members LTIF programme. As the scheme developed myself and ward Councillors were updated on the progress and the increased scope of project to accommodate all measures. We were given a high level overview of the scheme in August prior to the TRO being advertised and expressed support as well as concern over delays in delivery. In December full scheme drawings were shared with myself and ward Councillors which included delivery dates.
(ii) The Council received the following Public Questions from Mr Galton which were responded to by Councillor Rayment, Cabinet Member for Environment and Transport (Question 1) and Councillor Hammond, Cabinet Member for Transformation Projects (Questions 2 and 3):
Question 1
What monitoring has taken place on new traffic flows in the Newman Street and Park Street area especially in relation to junctions with the main high street, including traffic flows on the high street too.
Answer
Highways engineers have had several site visits. As with most changes to road layouts there is a bedding in period where road users adjust to the changes. It is evident from the recent visits that the amount of drivers using Park Street has increased significantly since the scheme was implemented and compliance to the lane changes in Newman Street has also increased. Officers are monitoring the site weekly to observe the situation and we will continue to assess the situation over the coming months. Ward Councillors are telling me they have spoken to the residents who on the whole are happy.
Question 2
Can the Cabinet Member update us on the progress of introducing the voluntary CAZ and anticipated launch date?
Answer
The voluntary Clean Air Zone was designed to raise awareness of the problems we have with pollution and to allow businesses to start preparing so that their fleets are compliant.
As you will be aware, there are four other cities who are mandated by government to have Clean Air Zones.
DEFRA have decided – sensibly so – that all the cities will have the same branding, same signage, same fines and a single procurement process.
Unfortunately DEFRA are not moving quickly on this and we’ve gone back to them as a group of cities to offer to start the branding process.
Nevertheless, locally we’ve already started the following to promote the CAZ and raise awareness:
- National Clean Air Day
- Green Fleet Event (hosting operators and manufacturers to)
- Two new communications officers are in post and will be liaising with the various stakeholders who will be affected.
- As a Council we’ve completed our own fleet review and have committed.
- Planned a taxi scrappage scheme.
- Traffic information boards across the city now have Air Quality messages on them.
To date we are the only local authority to secure funding for the Clean Air Zone Early Measures programme (£1 million). I’m pleased with the progress we’re making towards our CAZ and proud that Southampton is recognised as leading on this nationally.
Question 3
In light of the Government advice over using local 20mph limits to reduce air pollution and the same recommendation being made in the 2015 air quality inquiry, will the administration urgently implement 20mph schemes to improve traffic flows, make streets safer for cyclists and most importantly improve local air quality.
Answer
There is no current government advice for a blanket roll out of 20mph limits to reduce air pollution. In fact it was National Institute of Clinical Excellence who mentioned that 20mph limits are a good way of reducing traffic accidents. I am not aware of there being significant evidence that wide spread adoption of 20mph actually would improve air quality on its own.
Our own pilot showed no reduction in speed or perception from residents that things had improved. We’ve heard previously that rolling out 20mph in our city would cost approximately £1 million pounds. This is a significant cost to the taxpayers of the city.
As well as being costly, its not effective on air quality grounds. Motorists don’t always follow the restrictions. The Police have made it clear they don’t have the resources to enforce this and we don’t have the financial resources on taking a punt on this working.
As Chair of the Scrutiny inquiry on air quality – the recommendation was about looking at the package of measures to improve traffic flows and therefore reducing pollution, 20mph was only a suggested measure as the evidence we heard didn’t back up the perceived claims.
If we look at Manchester, they had ambitious plans to roll out 20mph zones in all its residential roads (£1.7m) and they have now paused doing this – to consider more effective ways to spend this money. They’ve seen a greater reductions in traffic accidents in roads which weren’t in 20mph limits than those who were.
There are better ways to spend money on air quality and reduce pollution and those are what we are prioritising. Our approach to 20mph zones has been vindicated and this means we haven’t wasted £1million.
(ii) The Council received and noted a deputation from Mr Mike Brown concerning City of Sanctuary;
(iii) The Council received and noted a deputation from Ms Lauren Poore and Ms Amanda Holmes concerning the junction of Kathleen and South East Road;
(iv) The Council received and noted a deputation from Ms Amanda Guest, Ms Lisa Stead and Mrs Clare Mar-Molinaro concerning the Kentish Road Respite Centre. Petition handed to the Cabinet Member for Housing and Adult Care; and
(v) The Council received and noted a deputation from Mr Colin Gaylor, Mrs Tracey Wood and Ms Kate Wood, concerning Armed Forces Day 2018.