Agenda item

The Executive Member is asked to make a decision about the Low Poppleton Lane experimental Traffic Regulation Order, whether to continue with this as is or instruct officers to look at some options that have been put forward by the public to modify the restriction in some way.

Resolved:

(i) That the current Experimental TRO be continued and that options be reviewed by officers to vary the Experimental TRO to address comments raised during the experimental period, including, but not limited to:-

(a) allowing motorcycles and scooters to access the restriction.

(b) and/or to allow private hire and hackney carriage taxi’s to access the restriction.

(c) reducing the hours of operation, for example 7am to 7pm for the restriction to be enforced.

Reason: To enable the impact of any changes to be reviewed in detail and provide a further report for a decision on which option to progress.

The Executive Member considered a report in relation to the Low Poppleton Lane experimental Traffic Regulation Order (TRO) which had been running for over 6 months. The Executive Member was asked to decide whether to continue with the TRO as is or whether to instruct officers to look at some options that had been put forward by the public to modify the restriction in some way.

With regard to paragraph 18 of the report, officers confirmed that at the end of the consultation period on 12 October, 31 comments had been received. The issues raised in the additional comments received were already covered in those presented in Annex C.

The Executive Member considered the two options set out in the report:

· Option 1 – Make current Experimental TRO Permanent

· Option 2 – To instruct officers to investigate other options, such as hours of operation or an extension to exempting other vehicles, including motorbikes and scooters as well as taxis.

The Executive Member acknowledged the valid comments presented by both Cllr Gillies and residents who had responded to the consultation and noted the comments made with regard to allowing access to motorcycles and scooters.

He noted that, at the moment, the road layout made it unsafe to allow 2 way traffic through the chicane and that would require a redesign of the layout. He also acknowledged that the more changes made such as hours of operation, permitted vehicles, increased the risk of confusion for users and the likelihood of people mistakenly using it when not permitted to. He agreed that a decision could not be made on this today but agreed that officers should be asked to investigate other options as set out below and discuss these with the Executive Member, with the aim of presenting an update to the January meeting if possible.