The Parish Council has written to ERYC on various issues concerning traffic matters on Long Lane… the latest is below:
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Email 1
Hello all… a Cllr has reported a further incident on Long Lane where a lorry has brought down a large branch, hitting her car and blocking the road…. the details are below. I myself witnessed an incident recently on the road where a speeding van overtook me and nearly hit a cyclist on a narrow bend.
There are number of issues here that the Parish Council would like to raise again
1 Large vehicles (namely construction lorries) continue to bring down branches on a road that was clearly not suitable for such vehicles
2 Debris from the branches being knocked into the road is an increasing risk to all users of the lane as is clearly evidenced by the recent incident below
3 As previously advised tree debris has not been removed from the lane and is just placed in the verge
4 Vehicles continue to speed along Long Lane ignoring the current speed limit of 40mph which is arguably wholly unsuitable now due to the increased vehicles volumes on the road
The Parish Council obviously has little to no authority in these matters beyond raising to the Local Authority and Cllrs would request your proactive involvement in helping to address these issues. I noted in your last email that the majority of the trees and bushes along the lane are privately owned and you advised Enforcement would be contacted in the matter. I have not heard anything to date from them. I am however sure residents will say the issue is not theirs, as it is clearly other factors (as above) causing the problems in the first place.
On behalf of Cllrs, I look forward to hearing from you .
Kind Regards
Email 2
Further to our earlier emails, please find attached a selection of photos highlighting the problems and text from a Cllr who lives on the road who is advising that the there remains issues of concern on Long Lane.
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Hopefully you can make out the amount of damaged low hanging branches (some holding there by a thread) that in the event of windy weather and or if they get hit by large commercial vehicle (which is a regular occurrence) – will no doubt further weaken them and increase the likelihood of them falling on the road.
There are also some reference pics that highlight dirty road signage and signage that is also obstructed by trees and shrubbery that also makes the point that drivers will not be able to see the road signage and therefore may not comply with highway policy.
There are also a selection of reference pics of large branches that have fallen in the recent storm that have not been collected or are awaiting collection, but they’ve been there for at least 6 weeks. These can be located on both sides of the road around the area of where the Minster Way bridge crosses Long Lane.
As obvious as this may seem (and apologies for stating the obvious) – but considering the Lane was not built for the volume of two way traffic that it is enduring (ie no passing points etc) – vehicles are being forced to drive very close to the edge of the road and by that very nature will be hitting the shrubbery (low branches / shrubbery etc) – and therefore causing damage to their vehicles (wing mirrors and the side of cars etc).
Also, thought I’d share that for the 30 mins I was there taking these pics, I made a point of counting the number of vehicles that passed me and for a road that is classed as has country lane / quiet road status I counted 437 cars and at least 50 examples of misuse of the Woodmansey Mile / Long Lane junction.
