On the Road to Nowhere....

We have had a few telephone calls on this, so this is how £900 of public money earmarked to put in a so called 'pathway' from your Stanground East Community Leaders Fund (CLF) held by our Councillor on your behalf is being used. The incomplete works on Park Farm Way have been ongoing for over a week and the barriers now scattered all over the place, present a real safety hazard, especially as the clocks go back one hour this weekend! We've taken a few pictures so this is the position as of the afternoon of Friday 28th October 2011.

The 'pathway,' little more than a rectangle over the grass verge, is located directly in front of a road ramp or incline for the traffic calming table, thereby creating a pedestrian major trip hazard. Simply it is difficult to negotiate both an incline as well as a raised kerb at the same time. For disabled people it would be an impossibility.

The concrete plate to the left is an existing inspection cover. Notice how one of the red barriers has been moved and dumped on the pavement to the left of the pillar box creating yet another trip hazard. It also marks the start of another pet project for our local councillor, the blanket 20 mph speed limit for Park Farm Way.

The  view below shows how close to the T junction the 'pathway' is, so if you park your car (to post a letter) adjacent to the 'pathway' it is already way too close to the T junction and the driver would in our view not only commit a traffic offence but also create another hazard, a possible blind spot for any turning traffic and a danger for pedestrians such as children and parents from the nearby school.

For £900 we were also promised bollards .... one is in evidence and apart from being a target for a giant hoopla (it's on the right hand side of the picture below) seems totally pointless. For good measure, it also leans.... don't they use spirit levels anymore?

This view shows that the top coating is missing (be it paving slabs or tarmac), meanwhile looking towards Heritage Park School, a close up of the gravel/ sand bedding.  The position of the blue car is roughly as near the T junction, one can legally park. We'll keep a clock on the overall time this is taking to complete, it's a week so far ....  STOP PRESS Sunday: The barriers have now been uprighted and formed in a circle, a bit like a wagon train!

We have already suggested (but it fell on deaf ears) that it would be far safer and more cost efficient to simply move the existing pillar box (sited at a time before the Heritage Park development was completed) a short distance to the start of Park Farm Crescent on the same side of Park Farm Way, no 'footpath' or bollards would be required.

Meanwhile further up the road, we see what we surmise to be the start of the Community Leaders Fund  (circa £2,000)  for the provision of 'raised vegetable beds' at Heritage Park School. No we are not making this up.... 

 

This video positions the whole 'footpath' area and shows its proximity to the T junction.

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