Minutes of the Highways Committee Meeting
       held on Monday 17 September 2001 at 7.45pm in the Community Centre

       Present: RJ Farrington (chair)   R Day   B Jefferson   RLE Waters
                PK Oldham   LC Twinn
                The clerk SJ Daniels

       1   Apologies for absence    RT Summerfield

471/01 2   Minutes
           The minutes of the meeting of 18 June 2001 were approved and signed
           as a true record.
(352/01)   A10 Junction /Butt Lane - The clerk reported that WS Atkins were
           recently conducting a traffic count at the junction.  He would find
           out the progress made by the County Council.
(353/01)   School Entrance Butt Lane - copy of letter from the County Council
           to the school advising against installing railings was received and
           noted (min 384/01 refers). The school governors could not see an
           easy solution and welcomed any suggestions.
(355/01)   Footpath Link to Cemetery - Landbeach Parish Council were
           interested in having a joint approach to a footpath/cycle link
           between Landbeach and Milton.
           J Richards felt that the central splitter on the A10 provided an
           opportunity to cross the road in two stages in relative safety.
(356/01)   Speed Humps - noted that it was rare for the County Council to
           recommend a traffic calming scheme involving features such as
           road humps in residential areas due to the noise problems (letter
           from P Sharp Area Traffic Engineer CCC).
           The clerk would send a copy of the letter to the resident who
           requested road humps.
           AGREED to recommend that Council take no further action.
(357/01)   Cycle Scheme - The clerk would write to J Richards expressing
           disappointment that he had not sent an update as promised in his
           letter dated 20 July and would include the following:
            - replacement bollard needed at Bene't Garage
            - elephant's feet at Fen Road/High Street junction
            - dropped kerb at Fen Road/High Street junction too high
            - poor quality red surface at Fen Road/High Street junction
            - cycle sign at Fen Road obscured by grapevine
            - drainage problems at Coles Road, Butt Lane and on pavement near
              Carequest.

472/01 3   Jointly Funded Minor Improvements Scheme
           Details of the minor improvements scheme were received and bids for
           funding requested. Those schemes that provided maximum benefits for
           pedestrians, cyclists and public transport users tended to have the
           best chance of success.
           Three schemes were considered:
           1  Pinch Point Ely Road. The cycle scheme in Ely Road did not help
              to reduce the speed of traffic entering from the north.
           2  Butt Lane junction.  This junction was considered dangerous for
              vehicles entering Butt Lane from the south as it was a blind
              corner with cars (and skip) parked on the northern side of Butt
              Lane. Safety could be improved by widening the path on the
              southern side to change the alignment of the junction entrance
           3  Footpath link to cemetery.

           AGREED to recommend that Council put in a bid for funding towards
           the three schemes in priority order:
           1  Pinch point Ely Road
           2  Butt Lane junction
           3  Footpath link to cemetery.

           RLEW would draw plans of the schemes.

473/01 4   Travellers and Landbeach Road
           Local residents were concerned about travellers and had asked
           Council to consider 'stopping up' the disused part of the
           Landbeach Road.
           It was felt the travellers who stayed at the northern end of
           Landbeach Road in August had caused little damage and SCDC
           cleaned up the area quickly.
           Difficulties of stopping up the road:
           - Council would have to meet the cost of stopping up the road.
           - The question of ownership of the land on the western side would
             need to be investigated. (Caius College, County Council or
             developers?) The College of West Anglia owned the eastern side.
           - Stopping up could also pose a problem for the proposed footpath
             (min 472/01 above).
           AGREED that no further action should be taken.

474/01 5   Cycle bridge planting
           Details of the planting had been circulated.
           Comments:
           - Will the sight line be impeded by the shrubs at the access both
             on and off near the Tesco roundabout?
           - Who will maintain the shrubs and grass?
           - The access to the grass area must be properly secured against
             travellers and other unwelcome visitors. The gate appears to be
             in the wrong location and should be at the beginning of the grass
             area.
           - White willow is acceptable if pollarded. Who will do it?

475/01 6   Lorries in access road to Country Park
           The warden of the Country Park was concerned about the problem of
           lorries obstructing the road, reducing visibility for other drivers
           and causing litter.
           It was agreed that double yellow lines would be inappropriate as
           policing especially overnight would be a problem. It was felt that
           parking in an industrial area was preferable to other possible
           areas in the village.
           AGREED to ask the warden to monitor and let Council have more
           information.

           (Committee visited the site after the meeting to see the problem).

476/01 7   Any other business
           Church Lane/Fen Road - cars parked on the Church Lane/Fen Road
           junction usually at lunch times were causing a traffic hazard.
           PKO to discuss with Jolly Brewers.
           Salt bins - agreed not to ask the County Council for salt bins
           for the winter. Noted that gritting routes had been revised to
           improve efficiency.
           The County Council would send a leaflet showing the routes in
           due course.

The meeting ended at 9.10pm.