Closed
Noise and poor road surface
Reported via mobile in the Road surface category anonymously at 13:06, Tue 16 April 2024
Sent to Buckinghamshire Council less than a minute later. FixMyStreet ref: 5860226.
I live in a Victorian semi detached on Buckingham Road in Aylesbury. The noise from traffic in my home is horrific, persistently over 40db during the day. The volume of traffic in Aylesbury has clearly reached a point where it must be addressed and I have honestly never lived anywhere with so much HGV traffic passing through a residential area and small town. I think it is time the council realised that Aylesbury was built as a market town and its infrastructure is now no longer suitable. Aylesbury is surrounded by agriculture and industrial areas but has a poor road network meaning through traffic including most of these HGV’s have little option other than travelling through of near to the town centre and surrounding residential streets. This is causing significant noise, pollution and damage to the roads. Pot holes in and around Aylesbury are some of the worst I have seen and I travel around a lot. Really Aylesbury needs a ring road or by pass that through traffic should use and HGVs in particular should be discouraged from the town. With reference to my road (Buckingham Road) I think HGVs should be banned from altogether, the road surface is poor a section was recently replaced 3-400yds from house at the junction with Elmhurst Road and the wheel noise generated here is much quieter in fact the difference is so obvious at night I can here when vehicles leave that surface and hit the old surface despite being so far away and all my windows being shut. There should also be traffic calming measures in place in all roads around the town centre. I think speed bumps would make the traffic noise and vibration worse but there are plenty of other traffic calming measures that could be used. My road is 30mph limit for instance and there are regularly vehicles flying past my home at over 60mph, it’s only a matter of time before someone is seriously injured or killed.
Updates
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The report has been passed to the Highway Officer, who will carry out an inspection of the issue within 10 working days, emergency defects will be corrected or made safe at the time of the inspection, if reasonably practicable to do so. In this context, making safe may constitute displaying warning notices, coning‐off or fencing‐off to protect the public from the defect or other suitable action. If the inspection team cannot make safe the defect at the time of inspection, then they will instigate the relevant emergency call procedures to ensure appropriate resources are mobilised to make the defect safe.
There may also be occasions when the issue reported will not be repaired as it has been classified as a minor defect and does not pose any risk to either the safety or the integrity of the highway, these are called minimum recording levels as specified in our Highways Safety Inspection Policy in these cases no action will be taken.
During winter months we receive a very high number of reports regarding potholes or a poor road surface, it's easy to assume that potholes are formed due to roads being poorly maintained but that is not usually the case. There are many factors that can cause potholes, particularly during the winter months when water seeps in through cracks in the road surface, collecting underneath and when the water freezes, it expands and creates cracks in the road surface. Our priority is always the safety of road users, so in some cases during busy periods a permanent repair is not always possible immediately. However, temporary repairs are a way to ensure the area is safe until such times as we can return to make a permanent repair.
Posted by Buckinghamshire Council at 13:06, Tue 16 April 2024
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Update
You may be able to request a restriction to stop large vehicles from using inappropriate roads or routes if they cause:
• danger to pedestrians and other road users
• damage to buildings, roads and bridges
• congestion on roadsThis may include requesting advisory signage or that a road weight restriction is put in place. The introduction of an Environmental Weight Restriction is enforceable and as such any breach of the Traffic Regulation Order should be reported to Thames Valley Police. Environmental Weight Restrictions often have exceptions in place for loading or local access meaning that some HGVs are permitted to use the road. It is worth noting that the blue ‘unsuitable for HGVs’ signage is advisory, not legally enforceable.
A feasibility study is likely to be needed to establish if an intervention is needed and what solution is most appropriate. This study may look into traffic flows, road classifications and any evidence of damage, detrimental impact or injuries caused by collisions. Any studies are likely to require local funding. You should in the first instance reach out to your local parish / town council who may be able to assist discussing with the local businesses and communities potentially affected; identifying any suitable alternate routes for HGVs; and assessing the effect on traffic speeds.
The parish / town council and local Buckinghamshire Councillor may be able to help with the creation of a business case and sourcing any local funding needed for the installation.
In the absence of any legal restrictions being in place, if you’re able to identify the HGV operator it is worth contacting the company to alert them of your concerns (or doing this via your local parish / town council). We would not recommend stopping an HGV on the road as your safety and the safety of others is paramount, however you might be able to identify the company from branding on the vehicle or identifying their origin/destination. Their contact details should be available online, and many companies would want to be informed of issues and take resulting actions where possible (such as altering their routes).
State changed to: Closed
Posted by Buckinghamshire Council at 22:18, Wed 17 April 2024
This report is now closed to updates from the public. You can make a new report in the same location.