The planned Western Expansion Area to the west of V4 Watling Street will affect Two Mile Ash in several ways. TMAEG’s main concerns relate to the potential for significant volumes of WEA generated traffic to take short cuts through Two Mile Ash, adversely affecting the environment within our local streets, and to the adequacy in safety terms of the intended arrangements for pedestrians and cyclists to cross V4. These concerns were expressed in letters from the Chair of TMAEG to MK NEWS and the Milton Keynes Citizen which appeared on 23 and 24 November 2011
Dear Sir/Madam,
The committed Western Expansion Area (WEA) will bring 6,500 new homes, employment, schools and shops to what is presently farming land to the west of V4, Watling Street. While the expansion will be slower in coming than foreseen a couple of years ago, the WEA will still impact significantly upon the existing communities on this edge of Milton Keynes. At a recent packed meeting organised by Abbey Hill Parish Council, Two Mile Ash residents gained an insight into the likely extent of those impacts in terms of highway access and traffic flow.
At the meeting, we learned that agreement has been reached between Milton Keynes Council and the developers Redlawn/Gallagher on the principles that should govern connection to the grid network and the protection of grid corridor connections. However, from the discussion it was clear that significant worries remain locally about traffic volumes and safety and about the adequacy of the plans for the WEA in those terms.
The newly created Two Mile Ash Environmental Group would be very concerned were the new traffic arrangements to lead to significant increases of traffic within Two Mile Ash, for example, as a result of traffic taking ‘short cuts’ through our village centre to by-pass congested parts of the grid. In our view, however, a major deficiency of the current plans concerns the arrangements for crossing V4 for both pedestrians and cyclists. Whereas the established practice for Milton Keynes (see the Milton Keynes Planning Manual) is that a typical 1km section of city road contains up to three grade separated crossings, by means either of bridges or underpasses, the present plans show only light-controlled crossings on the level.
In a consultation exercise carried out in April 2008, local residents voted by a large majority for segregated pedestrian facilities. In terms of both pedestrians and cyclists, it is important that the WEA is properly linked to the existing developed areas in the same way that existing grid squares are interconnected. And notwithstanding its Roman origins, Watling Street is little different from most other stretches of grid road in terms of the volumes and speeds of the traffic it carries. We need to remember that one of the principal groups that would be using any crossing facilities would be children travelling from the WEA to school in Two Mile Ash (and other communities) and vice versa in respect of attendance at the WEA schools.
We should not compromise on the safety of our children, or on that of other vulnerable groups and individuals; therefore, truly safe pedestrian and cycle routes should be provided across V4, incorporating bridges or underpasses as appropriate.
Yours faithfully,
Dr Chris Gossop,
Chair, Two Mile Ash Environmental Group
