Haydon Bridge traffic proposals
29 Apr 2019 ARCHIVED (over 3 months old) - view latest news
Proposals to improve the road layout on one of Haydon Bridge’s main roads are moving forward.
A series of meetings and drop-in events over recent months have sought to fully involve the community and local parish council in making changes to how traffic flows through the town centre - especially Ratcliffe Road.
Proposals on changing traffic priority at Ratcliffe Road / Church Street junction had been well received locally and now detailed design work and a road safety audit will be carried out on the feasibility of the scheme. This proposal would also include the removal of the traffic island at this junction.
The current “herringbone” parking arrangements will remain on Ratcliffe Road, although some of the double yellows which had been removed on the north side of the road will be reinstated and new lines introduced in places where it is unsafe to park. This will have the added advantage of creating informal passing places.
Local feedback also showed support for introducing a 20mph speed limit on these streets, and parts of neighbouring streets such at Hordley Acres and Strother Close will be included as necessary.
The council will be working closely with the Co-op on the creation of a designated loading bay, as well as a new advisory pedestrian crossing. Taking into account the comments received, a loading bay will also be introduced on Church Street, although this will just be in the form of road markings.
Finally, the pedestrian crossing which had been removed as part of this experiment will be reinstated as soon as possible. Feedback has suggested that this is still required and is well used by residents. As a result, the existing bus stop at the south side of the road will remain in its current location, although the county council will explore whether the area can be improved to allow easier access for buses.
A spokesman for Northumberland County Council said: “We’ve worked closely with local residents and Haydon Parish Council over recent months to come up with proposals which would improve parking and traffic flow through the village while maintaining road safety.
“We proposed a number of options which have been fully discussed with the local community and we believe they support the introduction of these measures.
“Our next stage is to carry out some detailed design work and road safety audits before any work is carried out.”