Councillor calls for study into speeding hotspots in village
Politician asks for pilot traffic reduction plan to be expanded
An Elderslie councillor has insisted speeding issues in the village must be monitored closely as traffic reduction pilots are launched in other villages across Renfrewshire.
Council chiefs are set to carry out feasibility studies in Howwood, Kilbarchan and Houston over the coming months to assess traffic volumes, speeds, and travel patterns before considering what measures could be put in place to improve road safety.
But Councillor Jacqueline Cameron urged officers to consider the situation in Elderslie where she said residents had complained of drivers bolting down the likes of Main Road and Glenpatrick Road.
During the latest meeting of the infrastructure, land and environment board, she said: “I do welcome these pilots.
“I’m a resident of Kilbarchan and there are a lot of issues with speeding particularly at the Steeple Street junction so I am pleased to see this.
“But I wanted to ask, given that these are the villages that will get an initial focus, if Elderslie could be looked at in future?
“I get a lot of complaints from residents in Elderslie about speeding on the Main Road and in Glenpatrick Road and more recently Park Avenue.
“I think some surveys have been carried out in Park Avenue recently and it was found average speeds were about 29 mph, but certainly there are problems on the Main Road and Glenpatrick Road.
“I was hoping I could get some clarification on this.”
Studies to reduce traffic and promote safer walking within Renfrewshire’s villages were agreed to as part of the council’s budget that was rubber-stamped in March.
Gordon McNeil, director of environment and infrastructure, said lessons learned from the upcoming pilots in Howwood, Kilbarchan, and Houston would inform how the council could introduce safety measures in other villages in the future.
“There are three villages we want to pilot and we want to look at measures from a technical officer perspective but also from a community perspective,” said Mr McNeil in response to Councillor Cameron.
“We want to take the positive learning from those into other communities where we have speeding issues.
“So we haven’t set out a ‘phase two’ as such yet, but certainly the idea of these pilots is that we take the positive learning from them so we can consider what infrastructure could be put in place elsewhere in Renfrewshire.”
Documents presented to the board also stated there remain plans for “significant investment” in pedestrian crossing installations across Renfrewshire.
Councillors agreed to set aside £ 250,000 for safe road crossing facilities during March’s budget meeting.
I get a lot of complaints from residents about speeding on Main Road and Glenpatrick Road