Email received Friday 10th December from Ward Member.
“Thank you for confirming receipt of my petition re Black Dyke Lane.
When they heard about it, Upper Poppleton Parish Council called a meeting to discuss the issue.
The email below sets out the thoughts of the Parish Council. I thought it might be useful if I forwarded it to you for consideration when the report is being written.
I do not necessarily agree with everything in the email (and the meeting only had 12 members of the public whereas I spoke to approx 40 residents of Black Dike Lane and got signatures of more), but in the interests of consultation of all parties concerned, I thought I should forward it.
The main point I disagree on is that I cannot see why it will be bad for traffic to use Hodgson Lane instead of Black Dike Lane when the former is twice as wide and has a safer (though not ideal because of the 60mph speed limit) junction with the A59.
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Email from Poppleton Parish Council to Ward Member,
dated 3rd December 2021
“The Parish Council has received a number of complaints from residents who are anxious about the speeding traffic along Black Dyke Lane, Upper Poppleton, York. Whilst there have not been any serious accidents, there have been a number of very ‘near misses’.
This lane is a single-track road with a blind bend and no meaningful footpaths, linking the village to the A59 Harrogate Road. The Poppleton end of the road has housing, some of which has young children and at least four houses have occupants with severe health problems and who are dependent on mobility scooters.
The A59 end of the road has no housing but the local farmers need access to the fields on either side of the road which they do by driving agricultural machinery from the A59 down Black Dyke Lane to the appropriate farm gates. The farmers try to avoid accessing from the village end as heavy machinery is inappropriate in the housed area.
1. There have been suggestions of making this road a cul-de-sac by fencing off the Harrogate end, but the Upper Poppleton Parish Council at its recent meeting unanimously rejected thatidea on the grounds of access for emergency vehicles, access for heavy vehicles such as waste collection lorries, access for other large vehicles such as removal vans etc. If there was a cul-de-sac it would necessitate these and other vehicles reversing out of the lane onto busy Station road, a hazardous procedure as visibility is poor owing to housing on the corner and there is no possibility of a turning circle beyond the existing houses outbound. Furthermore, if sealed off, then there would be more traffic on the parallel Hodgson Lane, which is not very wide, and this would inevitably lead to complaints from residents living on that road.
2. Remedies to nullify the problem on Black Dyke Lane are made below:
a. Make this lane a 20mph zone (presently 30mph) with signs to that effect at either end
b. Warning NO FOOTPATH signs
c. Sign to the effect SINGLE CARRIAGEWAY
d. Enhance the blind bend sign.
e. Consider a speed camera strategically sited
f. Consider a ‘speed hump’ just beyond the houses
g. Prohibit HGVs except for access
The Parish Council asks that the City Council urgently considers and acts before a serious incident occurs”.