On 4 September 2013, Worthing County Local Committee, the group of county councillors who now have decision-making power over transport projects in the borough, will meet.
They will most probably decide to spend nearly a million pounds on re-vamping Montague Street, in the process
using up all the money previously allocated to implementing 20mph speed limits in the town and more.
If you have the ability to read Council reports, here are the recommendations from the horse's mouth:
http://www2.westsussex.gov.uk/ds/clc/w/w040913i6a.pdf
20mph has Popular Support
Implementing 20mph limits on all residential streets is a popular move (typically 75% of people survey support lower speeds in their streets) and had already been prioritised by a unanimous vote of Worthing Borough Councillors. The scheme is backed by a strong local group as well as related groups such as Transition Town Worthing and the Worthing Revolutions cycle campaign. It's particularly important for Worthing, which has the highest numbers of deaths and serious injuries for pedestrians and cyclists of any West Sussex town.
The Montague Street scheme has no popular support, as the population are unaware of the project. However because it is apparently supported by West Sussex County Council, Worthing Borough Council, and the Town Centre Initiative (well, they would support it, wouldn't they!) this apparently trumps the need to ask local residents.
Cost/Benefit Analysis
Implementing 20mph limits conforming to current national government guidelines would cost around £400,000. The benefits of doing this are proven in Portsmouth, Brighton, parts of London, as well as most towns and cities in continental Europe. This is nothing new, it has many benefits, and costs relatively little. Schemes like this typically pay for themselves in reduced congestion and reduced health and emergency services costs within a year or two. Making it easier for local residents to get to the shops in Worthing without needing to drive will result in more local shopping and less congestion. Even the car parks will be less packed, allowing more people to visit from out of town, and helping to push parking charges down as demand drops.
The Worthing CLC now plan to spend more than double that amount, £1,000,000 in total, on refurbishing Montague Street. No doubt Montague street will look nicer with a re-vamp, but this will do nothing to improve safety on Worthing's streets. Nor will it make it any easier or more pleasant for Worthing residents and visitors to reach the shops in Montague Street: the surrounding roads will still be dominated by fast-moving and dangerous motor traffic. It is not clear what benefits this scheme will bring, or even whether it will result in any more people shopping in Worthing than currently. It certainly won't make any difference to local transport congestion, nor road safety. It is a shopping initiative, not a transport one.
Queue Jumping the Process
This Montague Street plan has apparently queue-jumped the new planning process. It should have been added to the local Community Issues List, and then councillors should have discussed the relative priorities of all the schemes on the list with experts and with Worthing residents and visitors. Then, and only if the scheme was judged to be one of the top priorities, would the scheme be allocated funding and started.
Instead we have a scheme that no-one has yet seen any details of, that has not been publicised at all, and that hasn't even been listed on the Community Issues List. Yet councillors are talking as if the money has been allocated to it, and that it will be given the go-ahead. Worse still, the 20mph scheme which has followed the correct process, and which has strong community support, is being thrown out to make way for it.
Are the CLC breaking their own procedures to rush this scheme through, and, if so, why?
Is this democracy and localism in action?
Illogical Plans - designed to be thrown out?
West Sussex County Council have spent considerable sums on carrying out traffic speed surveys on some of Worthing's streets.
Here is the map of "Option 1" where all roads, other than A, B, and local distributor roads, are changed to have a 20mph speed limit (click to enlarge):
This is by far the simplest option, and the most cost effective. Drivers will soon become used to driving slower on all Worthing streets, other than the more major roads.
Here is the recommended "Option 2" map, showing the areas with 20mph limits and the few small areas where 30mph will remain the speed limit (click to enlarge):
Can you spot the differences?
How does this make any more sense than just making all residential roads in the Borough 20mph? It will need more signs, to indicate where 30mph is the limit, and it will confuse drivers who suddenly find themselves on a 30mph street in an otherwise-20mph town.
Perhaps the plans are deliberately daft, so the CLC councillors can say that they are daft, and thus can throw the whole idea out?
If you are concerned about road safety in Worthing, or would like more pleasant streets where you live or work or shop, or just think that planning processes should be followed properly, please come along to the CLC meeting on 4 September 2013 at the Heene Centre.
