Cambridgeshire residents say they face ‘lines of HGVs’ coming past their homes when traffic is diverted
Cambridgeshire County Council is facing calls to restrict HGV traffic on rural roads as redirected lorries are reportedly “destroying the roads”.
Cllr Mark Goldsack, of Soham North and Isleham, said he was “very pleased” that repairs to the A142 Soham Road had been scheduled but they were not given enough notice.
Speaking at a county council meeting on Tuesday (July 28), the Conservative councillor said: “We were told there would be at least four weeks’ notice before we know what’s going on. That’s impossible, because there was 10 days between the actual original notice and the actual proposed start date.
“And the diversionary routes were… quite frankly, I think my eight-year-old granddaughter could have come up with better ideas.”
He said they should “totally avoid” using “peat-damaged Fenland roads” as diversions when major A roads are closed.
He said: “The local drivers know where the dips are, know where the bumps are and know where the problems are and drive accordingly. The other drivers, who are on diversionary routes, don’t.
“They go at excess speeds and they’re the ones that cause the problems and, exactly as the chairman said, where there’s water and there’s a bumpy road – the logical outcome often occurs.”
Josh Rutherford, head of asset management, said: “In an emergency situation the police would be able to divert onto the nearest possible viable route. If it was a highways diversion – then we would divert onto a road of the same class.”
Cllr Ian Gardener, of Alconbury and Kimbolton, asked if signs could be put up to divert HGVs away from rural roads that can’t handle their weight.
The Conservative councillor said every time the road is closed – a crash on Monday (July 27) on the A14 at Bythorn being the latest example – the huge lorries “come off the A14 and they’re on our rural roads”.
He said: “They are destroying the roads and it’s creating a much greater maintenance cost for the county council. To spend a few hundred pounds on a few signs might help the situation.
“I know drivers follow their satnavs and what have you, but if they were to see ‘not suitable for HGVs’, it might reduce some – I’m not saying it would reduce all, but I just think that might help and would alleviate the issues that I get with residents saying, ‘I’ve now got lines of HGVs coming past my house.’
“We really can’t keep on with it because it’s just destroying the roads and the rural roads never seem to get that much expenditure on them.”
Mr Rutherford said that “year-on-year” the amount spent on rural roads across the county is a “significant part of the highways maintenance budget”. He said: “I do appreciate that the rural road network is huge – there are a lot of roads out there and there is a lot that needs doing.”
He said he agreed with looking at a “more holistic approach to highway maintenance” as alternatives to just patching up potholes after the roads are already damaged.
Mr Rutherford said: “You know we’ve done that probably 50 times – the definition of insanity and everything else.”
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