Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Dear (Substitute: Councillor Buck), Councillor Garne (Substitute: Councillor Hadley) and Willis (no substitute).

No interests were declared at the meeting.

Further to Minute 417 of the meeting of Cabinet Committee held on 1st November 2018, the Working Party received a report of the Deputy Chief Executive (Place) regarding the proposals to amend the road layout and traffic flows, including the introduction of signal controls and amendment and introduction of traffic regulation orders, in Queensway at the junctions with Whitegate Road and York Road.

The report also sought approval to authorise the advertisement of the amendments to and introduction of new traffic regulation orders, in accordance with the statutory processes and, subject to there being no objections received following statutory advertisement, to arrange for the relevant orders to be sealed and implement the proposals.

The Working Party was informed that officers had undertaken a thorough review of the scheme following the meeting on 1st November. The outcome of the review indicated that the exclusion of the right turns from Queensway from the scheme would not be appropriate as the desired outcomes would not be achieved. The scheme had however, now been amended slightly to address the concerns that had previously been raised. Plans of the proposed scheme were displayed at the meeting and, in response to issues raised by the Traffic Regulation Working Party, the following assurances were given:

(i) traffic counters/monitoring would be installed to monitor the level of queueing traffic at these junctions and traffic signals would be linked and could be adjusted, both on site and remotely, to ensure optimal traffic flow;

(ii) all entrances to the Warrior Square Car Park will remain open for the time being, although this will be kept under review and entrance from Warrior Square would be closed if necessary;

(iii) appropriate measures (such as collapsible bollards, extended chevron markings, etc.) to prevent vehicles exiting the slip road from the roundabout across Queensway to the right turn into Whitegate Road would be included as part of the detailed design stage; and

(iv) U turn manoeuvres would be prohibited at both junctions.

Resolved:-

That Cabinet Committee be recommended:

1. That, subject to the assurances given to address the Working Party’s concerns, the Queensway Right Turns Junction Improvement Scheme as set out in the plans attached to the report be endorsed.

2. That the Deputy Chief Executive (Place) be authorised to publish the relevant statutory notices and undertake the necessary consultation for any traffic regulation orders required to support the scheme.

3. That, subject to there being no objections following statutory advertisement, the Deputy Chief Executive (Place) be authorised to arrange for the traffic regulation orders to be sealed and the proposals implemented.