Bullbridge and Sawmills Area Civic Society ( BASA )

 

                                                                               3rd September 2009

                                                                                                                                                             To Mr Mike Hawkins,

Environmental Services.

 

Dear Sir,

 

    We the Bullbridge and Sawmills Area Civic Society, would like to register our support for the campaign for an extension of the 30mph speed limit on the A610 at Sawmills.

  We would like to see the 30mph limit extended to Buckland Hollow to the east and to the junction with the A6 to the west.

 

 Our Rationale for this is as follows -

 

    To the east of Sawmills, the road at Ladygrove is extremely dangerous. This straight stretch, which follows a blind bend at a busy industrial junction, serving Lockwoods Haulage and Veolia, is directly after the 30mph limit and appears to invite the less thoughtful motorists to accelerate to speeds far above the recommended (and in our view excessive) 40mph. The weight and volume of the traffic has contributed to poor pavements that are narrow, uneven and in many places sloping towards the road. These pavements must be negotiated by residents, within inches of speeding vehicles, when walking to the facilities at Sawmills, the task of crossing the road to the bus stop or children’s play area is even more challenging. We are particularly concerned for the safety of parents with pushchairs and prams and disabled people and their carers. BASA will be working towards making these pavements safer in the near future and are presently looking to Amber Valley Access Group for information towards this end.

 

    To the immediate west of Sawmills is the turn for Crich at Bullbridge. Here there are bus stops on both sides of the road. This junction will become even busier, with many more people and cars, when the Stevenson’s site is developed as a residential estate. The junction is used by children on their way to Fritchley Primary School, from both the east and west. The pavement here is extremely narrow as it goes under the bridge, often forcing people with pushchairs or wheelchairs out onto the road.

 

To the west the single pavement is the only pedestrian way and follows the bend that goes under the bridge that has been the scene of many accidents and upset vehicles. Residents report that passing under this bridge is a frightening experience, which could be greatly alleviated by reduced vehicle speeds. This single pavement continues to Riversdale where it is faced by the opposite pavement, which starts on a blind bend with restricted views for some distance. This stretch of the A610 is now the crossing place for a, greatly increased, number of residents. The residents of the Moorlands Road estate are, in the main, younger families and the children must cross this part of the road to access the school buses or local transport links, as do the young people from the extended Riversdale. Similarly there has been an increase  in traffic at the New Road Junction. The residents of this area are likely to continue to press for a crossing here, because of the nature of the difficulties they face. A decrease in the speed limit will go some way towards looking at their difficulties.

 

Continuing along the A610, although the houses are more spaced out the mixture of these houses with industrial and commercial units, bridges and bends can make it difficult for the motorist to “read” the road and makes any crossing of this road extremely dangerous.

 

  Just prior to the junction with the A6 is the entrance to the railway station. We  expect, and in fact are seeing, an increase of use of this station as more people are encouraged to use public transport, which they often access by bicycle. The proximity of the World Heritage Site, the Cromford Canal and well known walks also triggers an increase of visitors to this area, where the crossing of the road is dangerous, as is the emergence from the station junction.

   We are informed, by way of a conversation held between the police and a local resident of Ladygrove that assessments with regard to the speed limit were carried out a year ago and that we are expected to wait another two years for a reassessment. We believe that this assessment was flawed in its siting and request a reassessment.

 

   We earnestly want to ensure that the area is a safer place in which people can live and work and believe that we have a genuine case for an extension of the 30mph speed limit.

 

Yours Sincerely,

 

On behalf of The Bullbridge and Sawmills Area Civic Society

 

 

 

 

Gill Hirst  ( Secretary )

 

Woodlands

Sawmills

Belper

Derbyshire

DE56 2JQ

 

basacs@live.com

 

cc.

 David Orton

 Councillor Juliette Blake