K.T.A.G

As a resident of Kennett or Kentford you can not fail to be aware of the large numbers of over sized commercial lorries using the B1085 (Station Road & Dane Hill Road – Kennett) and the B1506 (Main Road through Kentford).

You may also be aware why this route is used; there is no A11/A14 interchange allowing any traffic travelling east-north or north-east (a fundamental oversight in major network planning).

HCVs[i] travelling from Thetford on the A11 that want to go east bound towards Felixstowe use the B1085 and B1506 through our villages to get onto the A14 eastbound. Vice versa this route is also used by HCVs to connect to the A11 going north when travelling from Felixstowe. Felixstowe is a rapidly expanding port which will continue to cause an increase in traffic through Kennett and Kentford.

Both roads are B classification roads and were not designed for continuous use by these HCVs which can weigh 40 tonnes or more. The roads are already overstressed and in places the surface structure is breaking up. Moreover when HCVs pass each other on these narrow roads, there is little margin for error.

A traffic survey carried out in May 2005 revealed that during a 13-hour period there were over 500 HCV movements using this route. This is excessive through any village and creates an unacceptable quality of life for its residents that have invested heavily to live in a quiet rural area.

This route is NOT an acceptable substitute for this fundamental over sight. These are some of the reasons:

· The B1085 and B1506 passing through country villages are ‘B’ status roads and were not constructed for such vehicle weight and size.

· The B1085 has a single pass, traffic signal controlled, road over the rail bridge which is was not designed to support this constant heavy traffic , the parapet brick work is cracking in a number of places due to this.

· The Bell Inn cross roads junction is not big enough to take vehicles of this size (please see article on our website www.kennettvillage.co.uk/KTAG) . These large HCVs have to turn out into on coming traffic from the B1085 or cut the corner when turning into the B1056 causing a dangerous hazard to other road users and pedestrians. There is insufficient room at the junction for two HCVs to negotiate it at the same time.

· There is increasing danger to pedestrians, cyclists and particularly our children.

· Kennett primary school is located beside the B1085. This type of vehicle movement is:

(i) Dangerous – the school use Kennett playing field for PE lessons and have to walk the children along an adjoining footpath and staff have reported that when a lorry passes children have been literally ‘bowled over’ by the back draft.

(ii) Disruptive – PE lessons in the playground are halted each time a lorry passes, as the teacher cannot communicate over the noise. The windows of the school have to be shut for lessons all year round for the same reasons.

Recent results documented in the Kennett Village Plan 2008 from a questionnaire circulated to every villager in Kennett showed that there is major concern with the traffic along Station Road especially HCV’s and their impact on the village’s local environment. The headline results from the Parish Plan were:

(ii) 78% support the restriction of weight of vehicles travelling through the village. Many villagers feel

(iii) 67% consider Station Road a danger spot, particularly outside the school.

As a result of this plan, the increasing concern of many Kennett residents and the failure of the Cambridgeshire County Highways to acknowledge the problem, the Kennett Traffic Action Group (KTAG) has been formed. The group’s aims for Non-local HCV through traffic are as follows:

· In the short term – to encourage the use of A road alternatives e.g. A1101 Mildenhall to Bury St Edmunds and Newmarket Crossover (A142) rather than the B1085.

· In the medium term (2 – 5 years) – Reduce vehicle weight limit through village for Non-local HCV traffic external vehicles and to reduce speed limits in the village.

· In the long term (10 – 15 years) – to lobby and achieve a formal A14/A11 interchange for traffic travelling eastwards from Felixstowe bound for the A11 North and traffic travelling towards Felixstowe utilising the A11 south.

Basically we want your support and this can be as much or as little involvement as you wish but the more unity we can achieve, the more power and influence we will have. This does not necessarily mean huge amounts of workon your part, but we do need support to demonstrate the serious nature of this issue to the local authorities; for example the signing of a petition to demonstrate that the group is not founded on a small group of individuals.

Interested? Please give us your views by contacting any of the following before the 30^th October 2008:

[i] KTAG has defined HCVs in our particular case as:

Articulated lorries with 6 or greater axles, large liquid tankers, large flat bed articulated lorries and open backed articulated lorries ( e.g. sugar beet transport lorries) but excludes farm vehicles and vehicles to/from local businesses in the village.