COACH Road could be undergoing works to make the long stretch of road that joins on to the A350 safer for road users and residents.
At the recent Highways, Planning and Development (HP&D) meeting at Westbury Town Council, councillors listened to concerns from a resident who lives on the road, describing the dangers he faces daily.
Councillors spoke about a number of different options to increase road safety and decrease the chances of the area getting used for anti-social behaviour.
The member of the public said, “Since we moved to the area last year, we’ve had a few issues. We’ve had the barn set alight, we get a lot of people speeding down the road using it as a rat-run, drug dealing – it was only yesterday me and my daughter were walking down the lane and she almost picked up two used condoms.
“People think it’s a quiet rural lane (due to its location), but it’s actually used by boy racers and delivery drivers to speed down the area. We’ve even had our cat run over down there, the last thing we want is a member of the public to get hurt, we get a lot of dog walkers down there. We also get fly tippers; the list goes on.”
Cllr Mike Sutton said, “It’s my understanding the road is access only, it’s not to be used by the general public.”
Cllr Ward Jones, added, “I completely sympathise with this resident, I think it’s just another example of a particular route in Westbury that is used by those who ought to know better. I do not know a solution that will solve the problem – if there was a solution, we wouldn’t have this problem in other places.”
In the meeting committee members discussed a range of options, including erecting barriers to stop unwanted traffic but this was rejected as councillors mentioned that emergency services need 24/7 access to the area.
The committee opted to inform the police of the incidents that the resident mentioned so they could look into the possibility of speed checks and some enforcement to stop anti-social behaviour. Councillors mentioned the potential of introducing speed bumps and voted to think of some possible solutions before the next meeting.
