What is your money being spent on and what it is not being spent on Ickleford
All Hertfordshire County Council Tax payers are paying for this scheme costing £222,917.95 and here are details of what your money has been spent on, and some ideas on perhaps what it could have been spent on.
What your money is being spent on...
- New bollards - they are just replacing the old ones. Why? No benefit to us - just makes maintenance easier for highways. Also why is there now only an arrow on one side?
- Improved street lighting - look at the old lamp posts and identical new ones next to them and you decide - even if you replace the light why can't the old post be used? Not very friendly on the environment. Again no improvement to us just makes maintenance easier for highways
- Humped Zebra Crossing - naturally we accept and support the installation of the zebra crossing - did it really need to be humped? It now repeatedly wakes Ickleford residents near the humped crossing in the early hours.
- 8 Road Cushions and 2 Full Road Humps which span the whole road - plenty of better alternatives exist - better on the environment (less noise and air polution), better and safer for the motorist, they penalise the majority of safe, sensible drivers because of the minority. NOTE to Parish Council - an average speed does NOT necessarily mean half the drivers drive below that speed and half drive above it!!!! Go on a basic GCSE stats course.
What your money is NOT being spent on...
- Any safety improvements at Cadwell Bridge - requires no explanation we all know how dangerous this is to vehicles, pedestrians, horses, etc...
- Any safety improvements at Bowmans Bridge and narrow road nearby - how many of you have had near misses here?
- At Turnpike Lane/Bedford Road roundabout - why not drive up there and see if you can actually see the roundabout. IPC Cllr Colin Thurstance tells us that this roundabout is being painted with funds from this Major Safety Project. A few days later he told us that it is in fact being paid for out of a maintenance budget. We are very pleased that this roundabout is due to be painted as the roundabout and stop lines have completely gone making it even more dangerous than usual. Let's hope it happens soon.
- No road resurfacing - the potholes and numerous cracks speak for themselves - other Counties have had the same weather and are nowhere near as bad, if they resurfaced Turnpike Lane and Arlesey Road with modern quiet tarmac you would really notice a huge reduction in traffic noise in the village
- Repairs to pavements - you only have to walk around the village to see the cracks and lumps in pavements - tree roots cracking through
- Drainage - look at all the sitting water on the roads - I wonder why we get so many potholes when it freezes
- Ryder Avenue - drive down this road after it has rained - it is a river crossing - drive down when it's dry and you'll see better roads in rural Botswana
- Ickleford Central Roundabout - Can you see it? Think it needs repainting to make it clear there is a roundabout there and that Arlesey Road to Turnpike Lane is not just a straight road with no give way. Very pleased to report that this has now been done although I am waiting for IPC Cllr Colin Thurstance to explain why this work is coming out of a Capital Expenditure Budget rather than money for regular maintenance. We thought this money was allocated for safety improvements not maintenance. A few days later Cllr Colin Thurstance emailed to say “Just established that an order was raised Dec 2009 for road markings throughout the village, where needed, to be re-painted. This is out of the Highways Maintenance Budget”.
- Repainting 30 signs - If you look carefully on the Bedford Road from Hitchin towards Ickleford you will see the faint outline of a large 30 sign painted on the road. Your money will not pay for this to be repainted and yet the average speed is 40mph