A Patchway resident has claimed the impending closure of Highwood Road to general traffic will cause the town to “sink further into obscurity”.
Writing in the Bristol Evening Post, Rebecca Strong says she opposed the closure on the grounds that surrounding roads won’t be able to absorb the traffic, adding that she feels the results of a public consultations on the scheme have been ignored.
Ms Strong, who stood as an independent candidate for the South Gloucestershire ward of Central Bradley Stoke and Stoke Lodge at the last election, also says she has used the Freedom of Information Act to request traffic flow projections from the Council but has yet to receive a satisfactory response.
She is also critical of the newly opened Patchway Hub, claiming it is under-used and has faulty heating and ventilation systems.
Read more: Patchway will be forgotten about (Evening Post)
Ms Strong is high lighting the plight Patchway will suffer because South Glos council has worked hand in glove with Bovis and dam Patchway residents, to close the dual carriageway and put a bus lane in its place is ridiculous, how many buses use Highwood road, as my house overlooks it I can tell you at a busy time 4 or 5 an hour! This decision was made many years ago, the councils both Patchway and South Glos let us down then, why did patchways south glos councillors at the time not defend us and stop this happening, the council and residents are now fighting a rearguard action to try to overturn this
In a reply to a residents question reference traffic measures in the future the South Glos engineer in charge, a “Dr” said when all the houses are built south glos will conduct a survey reference road usage, so we have to wait until 2015/16!!! What a load of rubbish, South Glos council need to listen to its residents, they need to remember WE pay they wages not Bovis!
I don’t know how much all the work on Highwood Rd is costing, but there are many Roads around Patchway could do with money being spent on them, Stroud Road won’t be resurfaced until 2014/15 do you think there will be any Tarmac left on the concrete base?
Coniston Road speed humps are falling apart, and all South Glos are interested in, is closing Highwood Rd and driving traffic onto Patchways poor Roads.
Patchway residents are not being listened to. Bovis are the only people South Glos listen to.
Another letter in the Evening Post today, this time from Alan Tink, who writes:
“Traffic is now forced to use roads in the residential area of Patchway such as Rodway and Coniston Road, which are completely inadequate for the number and size of the rerouted vehicles.”
Read more: Closure is leading to daily tailbacks
The powers that be haven’t thought of the the people that live in patchway at Christmas time. We can’t move for traffic on coniston road and cars parked on coniston close to asda lane to avoid the traffic jams. Because people in patchway love being a prisoner in their own homes, because of the traffic that will be on coniston road for taken highwood road away from the general traffic, because thats what going to happen and the powers that be can’t see that, then they need to open their eyes wider.
Another letter in the Evening Post today, from Frank Warner of Henbury:
Arguing to close it is short-sighted
I find the whole issue of closing Highwood Road most confusing; seems it will benefit nobody & inconvenience many locals. NB When is the road due to be closed to all but the odd bus?
Brian Allinson of SGC is the first person to reply to me from there finally, he aims to give us a detailed answer to our concerns asap, it has been pointed out these plans were before Airfield closure and Mall extension, and Coniston is clearly not fit for purpose…
It has been said throughout this process that traffic through Patchway will NOT increase. I can tell you now that traffic has increased dramatically and in Windermere specifically it has at least tripled including all the trucks that want to get to the shop loading bay on Durban Road.
If the council thinks that people coming from the motorway are going to go all the way down to the new road and up to Cribbs when they can cut through Patchway obviously don’t live here.
As previous people have said “if it aint broke don’t fix it”. South Glos are spending ridiculous amounts of money just to suit the developers of Charlton hays, It appears to onlookers that whatever they want they have gotten regardless of the effect on Patchway, “I wonder who’s palms are being crossed” It is most apparent in the way that Charlton Hayes residents have been given access via Highwood Lane and Patchway residents have not. You could almost say that this is discrimination against Patchway residents. I don’t see any reason why they couldn’t allow access via the junction beside the fire station towards Cribbs, they could still close the bottom part to Cars and still get the desired effect of stopping main traffic access.
I also believe as previously said that Patchway residents have been ignored in this process but the “Money Talks”