Town’s traffic ‘must be tackled’ in wait for bypass
A GROUP representing a Derbyshire town has issued a plea for traffic mitigation measures to be implemented while the community waits for a bypass scheme to be developed.
As part of an official response from the volunteer-run Ashbourne Town Team to Derbyshire County Council’s public consultation, which drew to a close on Friday, members of the team published a detailed plan of how it would like to see traffic tackled in Ashbourne.
In the report, the team called for more studies to be conducted into the longer Eastern route, which would link up to the Airfield Industrial Estate’s new access route and carry traffic on a road that eventually joined onto the A515 near to Spend Lane.
In its consultation documents, the county council suggested one of the disadvantages of the Eastern route would be that its length might put hauliers off sending lorries along it - and trucks would continue to short-cut through Ashbourne’s town centre.
But, the town team hastened to point out this could be quickly solved by a weight limit, forcing lorries to use the proposed new bypass.
The team, which is made up of businessmen and women, as well as experienced town planners and highways experts, has been calling for short to medium-term traffic mitigation measures long before the bypass consultation and their response document outlined and emphasised their vision of how the town can be improved both before and after a bypass.
Before the bypass is built, the town team would like to see improvementsfor pedestrians such as widened footways, improved parking and signage along with improved crossings.
After a bypass is built, they continued, there would be opportunities to “reclaim” roads which have been freed of heavy traffic, such as Church Street and Buxton Hill.
The bypass, they say, would also pave the way for further pedestrian improvements including shared use, wider footways, informal crossing points, along with reduced traffic signalling and street furniture.
Concluding the response, the document states: “Ashbourne is desperately in need of investment, and suffers from the lack of a coherent masterplan that it can take ownership of.
“This is an opportunity to put that right now, and in the future, by applying the art of the possible rather than simply hiding behind problems that can be jointly solved.
“An eastern alignment must be reviewed in more detail. Surely investors in the airfield development and indeed central government can be made to see the benefits.
“Indeed, a cost benefit analysis could show this route to be a sensible option.
“There are key improvements to the town, which we believe must be carried out independently of this exercise to improve the attractiveness and safety of the place in which we live, work, shop and relax.
“Whichever route is chosen, there are issues requiring detailed consideration such as weight limits, greenfield protection, environmental concerns and regeneration.”