Area Transport Strategy Group

Tonight's meeting of the Area Transport Strategy Group showed how much can be achieved by working together. This was the meeting when decisions had to be made about spending the balance of the budget. The traffic calming scheme near The Links school couldn't be considered because it's still not finalised. Consultation with the Parish council is ongoing. The scheme might be a contender for next year's funding but not this.
Similarly a suggestion to do part of the work on Greens Lane in Yarm couldn't be progressed because the cost was way beyond our budget so that'll have to wait until the golf clubhouse is built and the section 106 money is available.
A build-out to prevent unsafe parking on Spitalfields was well supported and then we were back to the thorny issue of speeding traffic. Staffing problems have meant that the safety camera has been deployed less often than we'd like on those roads where speeding is thought to be an issue. We heard more evidence about Speed Indicator Devices and how they can be used. It's possible now to use them to record speeds and to show what time of day or night is most in need of the enforcement camera, thus allowing for more effective targeting of those more expensive cameras.
We discussed Yarm Rd, where most people thought the speeding was related to taxis going to and from Yarm but there were several views as to which section has the worst problem.
We talked about the problem of the A67 from the Hunters Green roundabout towards the Tesco roundabout where for some reason many drivers don't seem to realise they're in a built up area. Having said that, a few years ago I took part in filming for a documentary about speed cameras on site with the camera on that stretch of the A67 and some drivers seemed to be deliberately speeding up, flashing their lights and gesticulating at the camera and at us filming so it's not accidental speeding for some people.
We also discussed Worsall Rd where everyone seemed to agree that speeding is a problem but there were several opinions on which stretch is the worst.
Because there was so little agreement on the detail of the speeding problems officers are going to have to do more investigations on Yarm Rd and Worsall Rd before we can go any further on that matter. Fortunately we agreed tonight that the remainder of he work could be done without more meetings! We even agreed on a proposal to put to a neighbouring Area to jointly fund something which is in their area but has an impact on ours. Co-operation indeed.