Why are we spending all this when there will still be HGVs in the town every day, this scheme won’t fix the real problem?
The changes that we will deliver through the Levelling Up Fund will make a big difference to how residents and visitors experience the town centre. The improvements to main roads through the centre will make people feel safer and reduce the dominance of traffic and its impact on the town. The scheme won’t remove the heavy vehicles but it will create a much better environment for pedestrians.
Will wider pavements and narrower roads leave enough room for HGVs to travel through without mounting the kerbs and pavements?
To inform the new scheme, designers carried out tracking of kerb lines and radii to ensure that HGVs can travel through the area without having to mount the kerb or pavement.
How will vehicles make deliveries under the new scheme?
The improvements to main roads through the town centre will make people feel safer and reduce the dominance of traffic, creating a much better environment for pedestrians. This includes widening pavements and narrowing the carriageway, so that it will only be wide enough for a single vehicle to pass. This will limit where delivery vehicles can safely park to load and unload.
So that delivery vehicles don’t obstruct the flow of traffic, loading bays will be provided over part of the wider pavements. This will mean that the pavement will be temporarily reduced in width, similar to the existing pavement width, while the vehicle loads or unloads. Loading bays will be delineated by a change in paving colour and regulatory signing.
There are currently no plans to introduce a loading ban over the remaining lengths of pavement. Drivers that do choose to stop elsewhere than the designated loading areas would be more likely to obstruct the through traffic lane and create issues for traffic following behind, so they would be less inclined to do so. Monitoring and enforcement will be carried out by the County Council’s Civil Enforcement Officers along with local partners including the Police, District Council and Town Council.
Will the materials used in the scheme withstand the HGVs that drive through Ashbourne?
So that delivery vehicles don’t obstruct the flow of traffic, loading bays will be provided over part of the wider pavements and the pavement will be designed accordingly to accommodate HGV overrun. Elsewhere, the design of the scheme ensures that HGVs can travel through the area without having to mount the kerb or pavement, therefore areas of the pavement that are not designated loading bays are not designed to cater for HGV traffic. The carriageway will be resurfaced and localised deep patching will occur where areas of failed carriageway are present.
Wouldn’t this money be better spent on the relief road?
The rules for round two of the Levelling Up Fund (LUF) meant that we could not have used this bid to secure investment for the relief road. It was never an option for us to bid for that project; instead we put a lot of time into considering which projects would stand the best chance of success given the LUF rules and process.
How does this affect the plans for the relief road, does this mean that it won’t be happening?
Derbyshire County Council are continuing to develop the case for the relief road and that work will carry on regardless of the Levelling Up Fund projects. The success of the LUF bid won’t reduce our chances of securing funding for the relief road.
