Histon & Impington Parish Council’s Highways Committee met last week.

Pleasingly a number of residents came along to discuss and raise a number of different issues, including:

• The A14, including proposals to reduce noise
• The 20mph for Histon & Impington project

There was also discussion on the ‘Local Highways Improvements’ (LHI ) (1) program run by the County Council.

The A14

The Parish Council have been part of the Planning Inspectorate’s examination formal consultation over the summer. One issue, and about the closest to our heart, is the problem of noise in the Lone Tree Avenue and Cambridge Road area of the villages.

In our submissions we have strongly argued for a noise-reducing surface and extensive sound barriers to reduce these problems. Highways England’s (formerly Highways Agency) have now proposed to use a ‘Very Low Noise Surface’ (VLNS) on the upgraded A14 between Girton and Milton; however, this appears to be at the expense of more extensive Sound Barriers.

There was a in depth discussion, involving some of the residents most affected and the committee, on how to respond to the proposal.

20mph for Histon & Impington

Two residents attended having read in the last newsletter about the proposal, still being developed, for 20mph speed limits in the villages. Having listened to their concerns, they were reassured that were the scheme to be taken further a full consultation would happen across the villages before a decision was made.

The Parish Council has been publicising the idea and asking for comments for sometime, and had a Keynote speaker at its Annual Parish Meeting on the subject. Further newsletter articles and a set of FAQs will be published during the meantime.

It was clarified that a straw-poll of about 200 residents conducted at the Feast Market was useful to gauge opinion and support (or not) but informative only, and was seen in the context of being unscientific.

Comments, for or against, can be sent to 20mph@hisimp.net

Local Highways Improvement

This is almost the only way for the Parish Council to get changes to the road network done by the County Council. This is currently an annual opportunity to submit ideas for improvements in the villages. The St Andrews Centre scheme is an example from previous years. Successful bids win a small amount of funding and must be complete by the end of the following financial year.

It was decided that a scheme to improve the Baptist Church/War Memorial junction should be our submission for this year. It is a complex, poorly laid out set of junctions with little provision for pedestrians, heavily used by children and is the source of many complaints by residents.

(1) http://www.cambridgeshire.gov.uk/lhi