ePetition details

Request for traffic mitigation measures on Lowes Barn Bank

We the undersigned petition the Council to Provide short and long-term solutions to the continually worsening traffic problems on Lowes Barn Bank, a residential ‘c’ road: - to mitigate the exceptionally large increase in car and HGV traffic using this road as an unofficial / unsigned diversion route in Summer/Autumn 2022 during the multi-month B6300 closure, and the resultant stationary traffic / chaos for much of the working day - including air quality monitoring. - to propose workable solutions to restrict HGVs from using this steep road as a short-cut, which we feel is a completely inappropriate and unsafe route for such vehicles, given the ‘c’ classification and character of the road - especially given the proximity to the alternative ‘A’ road routes. - to propose solutions to limit the speed of all vehicles to a safe speed at times of day when traffic is flowing - especially on the downhill approach to the sharp bend.

This road is a residential ‘c’ class road with approximately 50 houses, and forms the boundary of a much larger residential estate. It has multiple young families living on it, and is a very popular link route for cyclists and pedestrians, bring one of the few such routes heading westwards from Durham City.

It does not feel safe for these groups of people, due to the continually increasing volume of traffic and high proportion of HGVs using it as a short-cut alternative to the ‘A’ road route via Neville’s Cross. This is currently exacerbated by the long closure of the B6300. Nearly all of the traffic from that road has been demonstrated to be displaced onto Lowes Barn Bank, despite DCC considering it to be unsuitable or unsafe as an official diversion route.

The nature of the road is widely considered unsuitable for the many
50-100+?) large HGV vehicles that use it daily as a short-cut between the A167 and A690 - due to narrow carriage way and footpaths, difficult access junctions at top and bottom, steep gradient on sharp bend, parked cars (houses do not typically have drives), proximity of housing.

Serious impacts include multiple hours / day of stationary traffic along the whole length of road in both directions, with all the noise, pollution and major access issues that entails - all of which is exacerbated by the large proportion of large HGVs.

This has negative economic and health impacts on people’s lives, and is not typical of a ‘c’ class road such as this. It is increasingly unsafe for the other significant groups of road users - especially due to the speed that lorries and cars travel towards the sharp bend. The HGV traffic is also resulting in structural damage to homes - again not expected or acceptable on a ‘c’ class road.

We note that there are options available to DCC, including weight restrictions on environmental grounds, ‘unsuitable for HGV’ signs, and traffic calming measures.

We urge DCC to mitigate this worsening situation immediately, in light of the official agreed diversion not being adhered to, as well as putting in sustainable measures for the longer term.

This ePetition ran from 19/08/2022 to 31/12/2022 and has now finished.

126 people signed this ePetition.