Halton Greens position on proposed 2mx

Halton Green Party has always advocated that other alternatives to reduce congestion on the Silver Jubilee bridge ought to be looked at before spending over half a billion pounds of public money on a second crossing. The council have admitted that they have not allocated any serious resources to looking at alternatives.

Local Greens oppose the current application on the following
grounds:

Proponents of the project suggest that the proposed second crossing will bring economic benefits to residents in Halton. Research indicates that the economic advantages of road/bridge developments in relation to local areas is debatable (See Roads Jobs and the Economy Eco Logic Ltd 1994 Professor John Whitelegg). Also the Standing and Advisory Committee on Trunk Road Assessment on considering the economic advantages of a range of bridges and roads concluded that “The state of the art of this important field is poorly developed and the results do not offer convincing general evidence of the size, nature or direction of local economic impacts”. (para 11 p7 in ‘Transport and the Economy Standing Committee, Standing Advisory Committee on Trunk Road Assessment’ DETR 1999).


Halton has some of the worst health and mortality rates in the country. Reports have identified a heavy pollution load and a heritage of contaminated land, air and water from many chemical industries which have grown up over the last 150 years. This project will disturb contaminated sediments in the river and this could risk aggravating the health problems of residents in Halton.

Proponents of the new bridge argue that air borne pollution in Halton will be reduced because of less peak time congestion. However the short term gains of a reduction in traffic at peak times will be outweighed by the estimated 40% increase in traffic in the area. This will have an impact on the state of health in Halton which currently has one of the highest rates of lung disease in the country

The argument that a second Mersey crossing will reduce congestion is questionable. There is evidence to support the fact that the building of more roads does not affect congestion. A good example of this is the M6 motorway where congestion is increasing when experts considered that the new toll road extension would reduce the problem. Experience shows that if you build more roads (bridges) traffic increases in the area in which you build them and congestion,relatively,does not decrease in the longer term. Research in the United States shows that for every 10% increase in ‘lane’ mile capacity there is a potential for a corresponding 9% increase in traffic. (see www.sierraclub.org/sprawl/induced.pdf). Also the idea that congestion will disappear if the proposed second crossing goes ahead is a myth. Any major incident on any of the Mersey crossings would affect traffic flow in the area.

A second crossing will generate more traffic which in turn will increase the volume of Co2 emissions and aggravate climate change problems. This is at a time when public policy is being directed towards reducing carbon emissions. If the government is seriously committed to meeting the targets set by the Kyoto agreement schemes like the second Mersey crossing need to be scrutinised in the light of this.

Conversely if future impacts of climate change require a reduction in road and air traffic, a scheme of this size and nature would effectively be reduced to the status of a very costly white elephant

Measures taken to reduce traffic over the Silver Jubilee Bridge have been few and half hearted and little imagination has been employed in considering options. Halton Borough Council has not looked at reducing traffic over the bridge except by means of public transport and has admitted the council could have done more in this respect. The council could have considered tolling the Silver Jubilee Bridge at peak times, remove signage on the M6 motorway which directs regional traffic over Silver Jubilee Bridge, implement school and business transport plans, improve public transport including light rail on Britannia Bridge, beef up car share schemes, encourage firms to provide ‘work at home days’ for employees using bridge etc

Costs of project - the estimated costs of the project has gone up recently from £390m to £561m. There are lessons to be learnt from Public Finance Initiatives in terms of escalating costs, responsibilities for maintenance expenditure and compensation/mitigation costs. If any aspect of funding present or future fails the resulting strain on local taxpayers and national Government will be incalculable.

The project will detrimentally affect residents living particularly in the Astmoor area of Runcorn where the elevated approach roads in places are to be sited within 100 yards of housing. The crossing itself will bring no immediate benefit to the local residents and the resulting extra pollution load (air quality, light, noise etc) will add to the social, health and environmental deprivation of the local area.

If you oppose the Mersey Gateway Planning application write to:


Environmental and Regulatory Services, Halton Borough Council, Rutland House Halton Lea Runcorn WA7 2GW

HGV's Barrows Green Lane - developments

I received this email from Jamie Simmons Police Community Support officer today about the setting up of a Lorry Watch scheme in the area and what the police have been doing about the HGV problem in Barrows Green Lane and Moorfield Road:

"I have emailed the council who originally stated that the council may possibly be able to do some observations under the Lorry Watch Idea without any bias. I have emailed them again today just to confirm this and also to mention that i would like the residents to remain a large part of the Lorry Watch also...

Our Road Policing Unit have paid some more attention to Barrows Green Lane and Moorfield Road in recent weeks and it seems either people are aware that they are there or the problems have not been as bad recently because after recieving an email from our RPU Liason officer she states that no tickets or warnings had been issued for any offences".

I must say that the area has been a little quiter of late but maybe I've not been around as much. Can any one else comment on this?

The police are wanting to know if anyone in Barrows Green Lane is interested in getting involved in a lorry watch scheme - so if there's any one out there who would be prepared to help (reporting incidents of HGV's on the road) please let us know!

Although it will be better if we get the full support of the council and police there's no reason why we couldn't set the scheme up ourselves if this doesn't work out.

Pedestrian Crossing Marzahn Way

We contacted the council in March (see blog in March) about the issue of a controlled crossing on Marzahn Way. The pedestrian route from Page Lane requires people to cross Marzahn Way near a very busy island.

The council have replied stating that they do not have plans for crossing facilities at that point and suggest that residents walk up Denton Street and access the crossing at Marzahn Way/Albert Road junction - this obviously means walking a longer distance.

I have suggested to residents in the area that if they want to pursue the matter that they need as individuals to write in to the council and also to get a petition up. I said I'd assist if necessary.

HGV's very latest!!

Had a meeting yesterday with police (CPO Jamie Simmons) - I was wanting to follow up on what police had been doing so far.

No specific action by the police has taken place in relation to the info we've sent them. I did provide CPO with photographic evidence re one incident and the police will be following this up

Jamie has emailed the Road Policing Unit covering Warrington Widnes etc re the problems being experienced - police to have a 'floating presence' in the area ie visible sign of police car - it is hoped that this could occur at least once a week and might deter HGV drivers from using Moorfield Rd and Barrows Green Lane.

Following meetings with some of the ward councillors - council to look at providing better and more road signs re weight restrictions.

I mentioned to Jamie about Lorry Watch schemes particularly in Cambridgeshire and Sussex. In most areas where Lorry Watch schemes have been set up the reported incidents of HGV use of weight restricted routes is followed up by Trading Standards. Halton BC does not have a trading standards section this is dealt with at Warrington. Jamie and Chris to check up whether Trading standards in Warringtion have a responsibilty for pursuing reported incidents in Widnes.

Jamie mentioned about discussions he'd had at Halton View Action Group re speeding and the possiblity of residents setting up a community Speed Watch - some residents didn't feel too happy with the idea not wanting to get involved and seeing the role as primarly a police one. Also the speed bumps issue seems to be a none goer due to lack of support from residents. Discussed possiblity of speed cameras but they are very expensive and there is a tendency for drivers to speed up after going through a camera controlled zone.

I suggested if possible we formalise a Lorry Watch in Barrows Green Lane and Moorfield Rd. It would be necessary to leaflet residents in the area to ask if anybody would be interested in keeping an eye on HGV movement and recording incidents which would then be forwarded to coordinators. The coordinators would then send info on to police etc. Residents would need to be able to identify HGV vehicles some simple learning input might be required here(?) - Jamie to discuss formalising a Lorry Watch scheme with his managers.

It would be important to involve hauliers as much as possible in this proccess so that they would not feel they were being hounded and so that they could work with us to improve the situation. Surrey Trading Standards operates in this way.

Jamie to contact following discussions with his managers WATCH this space!!??

HGV - Latest!

I have recently received an email from community support officer Chris Blakemore who says that the police are considering pressing for speed bumps on Barrows Green Lane to combat HGV's and speeding.

Whether this is going to happen will depend on whether there would be sufficient support for the proposal from residents.

I have looked at some evidence re the effectiveness of traffic calming on stopping HGV's using certain routes and it doesn't indicate that such measures are particularly useful. HGV's are obviously slowed down but continue to use these routes. So I would question the use of speed bumps as an answer to the problem.

The other issue would be Moorfield Rd which also has a weight restriction - whatever measures are implented for Barrows Green Lane would also need to be used in Moorfield Rd in order that traffic is not diverted to that road.

I'm hoping to see the CSO's in the next few days - I want to know how they view the effectiveness of their recent actions, eg contacting hauliers that have been using Barrows Green Lane - our surveys indicate that problems continue. Also will be discussing any other ideas they have re dealing with the problem. I've been looking at what other local authorities are doing and want to discuss this with the police

It looks like all the recent activities of local residents are paying off - it certainly seems that we're getting some action at last, lets just hope it's effective!

If anyone wants to be present at our meeting with the police please let us know.

Tel 0151 423 1692