The night of
Monday 24th October was windswept with torrential rain but despite that, enough
people braved the weather to impress the council. Over the years the residents
of Millers Dale have maintained an interest in the safety of the road through
the estate in particular the effects of ‘rat running’. The North
Millers Dale Community Association have campaigned on your behalf and a motion
from Councillor Mrs Doreen Wellfare was adopted at the Chandler’s Ford
and Hiltingbury Local Area Committee meeting. 
“In view of the concern expressed by local residents, this Area Committee requests that officers upgrade the North Millers Dale Traffic Survey, scheduled for North Millers Dale, to a full Road Traffic Management Study and provide recommendations for measures designed to deter rat running and reduce the speed of traffic using North Millers Dale Road”
Following this a further traffic study was carried out in February this year. The results of this were in the last issue of the Millers Tale and a full copy was available on the website. The council then drew up some proposals for the North Millers Dale residents to consider that were displayed at the exhibition on Monday night. In addition all the residents attending the display in the community hall were asked to complete a questionnaire to investigate local opinion on these ideas. On the night nearly one hundred questionnaires were handed in, since some were completed on behalf of households and a few people did not fill them in Andy Milner the Area Co-ordinator believed that the turnout was in the order of 120 to 130 residents.
There were six suggested schemes put forward and examples of these overlaid onto large map diagrams of the estate. These were displayed along with descriptions of their relative effectiveness and the potential disadvantages. This represented the basis of the selections on the questionnaires. In addition there were three representatives from the council, who were responsible for preparing the study, on hand to answer questions. They were Kevin Dearing Construction Manager (Team Leader), Gavin Bourn Assistant Engineer and Andy Milner the Area Co-ordinator. Andy tells me that the completed questionnaires are now being analysed and that he will provide the Millers Tale with feedback once that has been done.
The types of
measures suggested were, speed cushions (like speed humps but narrower to
allow buses and emergency vehicles to straddle them), chicanes, single buildouts
with priority working, pinch points with pedestrian refuges, modified road
markings and junction realignment. The costing of these schemes was estimated
at between £4,300 for the lining option to nearly £75,000 for
the combination of pinch points with pedestrian refuges. In the feasibility
study document the weight of opinion seems to come down in favour of the effectiveness
and costing of the speed cushions as many of the other options could not be
safely used on the long sweeping bend and would therefore allow traffic to
speed up over the potentially most dangerous section.
If you were unable to get to the display and fill in a questionnaire you may
still like to make your point. You could either write to the Millers Tale
editor@nmdca.org.uk or to Andy
Milner Area Co-ordinator (Chandler's Ford & Hiltingbury) Eastleigh Borough
Council, Civic Offices, Leigh Road, Eastleigh SO50 9YN or andy.milner@eastleigh.gov.uk
If you wish to read the full study click here.