Residents discussed St Denys traffic problems and volunteered to help run a SpeedWatch scheme at a meeting organised by Southampton Green Party on March 22.

 

Around 40 locals turned out on a Tuesday evening to join the discussion at St Denys Community Centre.

Issues of particular concern were:

• The northern end of Priory Road being used as a rat run
• Congestion at rush hour, especially in Priory Road north
• Speeding in various roads (despite speed bumps and an “unenforced” 20 mph restriction on the northern stretch of Priory Road)
• People driving on pavements
• Some of these issues causing particular dangers for cyclists
• The lack of initiatives to reduce speeding in most roads in the area
• Parking difficulties
• Parking on pavements restricting pedestrian access - people of all ages are often apparently forced to walk in roads
• Dangerous junctions, especially from North Road into Priory Road, where it's feared serious accidents are waiting to happen

 

'Ineffective speed bumps'

The pointlessness of having speed bumps that it was claimed are “ineffective”, and of a 20 zone in part of Priory Road if it isn't enforced, were debated, as was the legality of parking partly on pavements; this was seen by some largely to be a necessity when cars are parked on both sides of narrow roads – not least to allow access for emergency service vehicles.

But the message seemed to be that more consideration is needed by some people when parking

One resident responded to an idea – that's cropped up in the past – that the road under the Kent Road railway bridge could be completely closed to traffic, saying: “That's not acceptable to me at all.”

Neither did introducing a one-way system in the area find much favour.

And it generally seemed to be thought that a chicane under the Kent Road bridge, to increase delays and therefore reduce the incentive for avoiding a gridlocked St Denys Road, could prove expensive, difficult to engineer, and perhaps simply push traffic onto other roads.

Whether permit parking, at a cost thought to be about £30 a year to households, would ease the parking situation – particularly with shared student houses sometimes bringing several vehicles per house to the area – was another subject discussed. So too was the idea of restricting some roads to just the motor vehicles of residents, which it was suggested has worked in parts of Eastleigh.

SpeedWatch scheme

Summing up, Kieren Brown (the Green's candidate for Portswood ward in the May local elections), said that introducing “slow down” style signs could be an achievable way forward, as could making existing speed bumps more effective, and establishing a community SpeedWatch scheme; these allow members of the community to volunteer to “become police support volunteers and take action, helping us to educate drivers on the roads of concern in your area” - more on the Hampshire Constabulary site here.

Kieren Brown also said he'd submitted an FOI request to the council about traffic light sequencing on nearby roads, which it's been suggested may unnecessarily delay outbound traffic.

Several people pledged to volunteer for a St Denys SpeedWatch scheme, among them Adrian Ford, who's standing as Portswood's Liberal Democrat candidate in the May local elections: this was a “non party political” issue, he said.

Greens suggested they intend to launch a petition, and campaign further in the area, to raise awareness and press for changes.

Photo credit: Vehicle activated “Slow” sign by DeFacto - Own work, CC BY-SA 2.5,