Council / A ‘waste of money’? Community council discusses traffic calming proposals
A LERWICK councillor says there seems to be “universal opposition” in the community to the idea of more traffic calming speed humps and bumps in the town.
Gary Robinson said proposals for measures like new speed cushions and flat-topped humps in parts of the town have “certainly been a talking point” in the community after being put out for consultation last month.
He was speaking at a meeting of Lerwick Community Council on Monday night, with the proposals getting an airing in front of members for their feedback.
Chairman Jim Anderson ultimately proposed that the community council writes to Shetland Islands Council (SIC) to express concern over more “speed bumps” as well as a potential loss of parking if measures like crossings are introduced.
A number of traffic notices were published recently outlining plans for 20mph zones on King Harald Street and Scalloway Road/South Road.
There are also traffic calming measures including speed cushions, flat-topped humps and raised table junctions, proposed for those roads plus Gilbertson Road, Bell’s Road and Burgh Road.
Some of the proposals also aim to address concerns in the community, such as on Gilbertson Road where there was previously a petition on road safety and speed.
It is fair to say proposals have not been welcomed on social media, and Robinson said: “I’ve not had any good messages about it – it’s all been complaints”.
Some of the questions at Monday’s meeting included about potential lost parking from the introduction of new crossings on King Harald Street and Burgh Road.
Lerwick North and Bressay councillor Stephen Leask said some families he has spoken to were happy to see King Harald Street potentially moving to 20mph.
He said some people do not want to see speed bumps or ramps, but would be happy with more simple pedestrian crossings.
Andy Carter meanwhile felt that the proposals seemed like a “solution looking for a problem”.
The community council member said the sooner the idea is “put to bed the better”.
Amanda Hawick also said there is worry from people on King Harald Street about new crossings restricting access to garages.
She also said somebody commented “good God, what’s this going to mean for the [Up Helly Aa] galley?”
“This is a waste of money,” she added. “There’s bigger priorities that the council should be looking at than this nonsense.”
The SIC’s development committee chairman Dennis Leask, who represents Lerwick South, noted that it was not technically speed bumps being proposed, but raised platforms.
He added that “they’ve already checked it out with the [Up Helly Aa] galley and it can comfortably go” over the slope.
Leask also said it is a double-pronged approach from the council in a bid to get people to stick to reduced limits.
Community council member Karen Fraser meanwhile said she remembered quite a lot of her peers previously supporting more 20mph zones in Lerwick, and some more pedestrian crossings on certain streets.
“I don’t think we can suddenly say ‘oh it’s nothing to do with us’,” Fraser said.
She also felt it is difficult to get drivers to comply with speed or parking restrictions.
Fraser added that some “folk are up in arms because of the complete sense of entitlement about driving everywhere, parking where they want”.
She also said it is “not so much the speed that’s the problem in Lerwick, it’s the amount of parked cars”.
Jonathan Williamson said more traffic calming measures were “never going to be popular” but felt they were necessary for lower speeds.
Emma Williamson meanwhile raised safety issues with driving in Lerwick on three points.
She remarked on the amount of tourists that pay “no attention” to crossings, while the dark nights and windy streets can be issues too.
“Sometimes when I’m driving in the toon, I’m like ‘am I 20 mile an hour or 30’, because it chops and changes left right and centre,” Williamson said.
“Personally I think the whole toon should just be 20 miles an hour.”
Anderson meanwhile advocated the idea of a different type of crossing with a central island on King Harald Street instead of ones that cover the entire road, pondering if that would be a “happy medium”.
Diana Winfield said in her view some sort of crossing is needed on King Harald Street, especially to help folk such as partially sighted people.
She said it can be quite “threatening” for some to get across the road, but added that she would not go for speed bumps.
Averil Simpson meanwhile questioned “how do we get folk to drive at 20?” – adding that people already speed over the existing bumps in Lerwick.
“I don’t know what the answer is, but I’m not quite sure that any of this is,” she said.
Robinson said in his view: “I think what we’re doing here is enforcement before education – that’s what’s really annoying folk”.
Dennis Leask meanwhile said the proposed measures are “not a legal requirement”, adding that the government has asked councils to assess all roads to try to reduce injuries and improve active travel.
The community council also was keen to see accident figures for Lerwick.
A number of roads in residential areas in Lerwick recently dropped from 30mph to 20mph, as well as in Scalloway.
People have until 10 October to send in any objections to the Lerwick proposals to Shetland Islands Council.
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