The busy junction of Hollow Lane and Wincheap has been part of plans to relieve congestion in the area. Picture: Chris Davey.

by Adam Williams

awilliams@thekmgroup.co.uk

Plans to ease Wincheap traffic congestion are going back to the drawing board.

Proposals to close the busy junction at Hollow Lane and Wincheap and paint double yellow lines along the entire length of Homersham were rejected by members of the joint transportation board on Tuesday night.

In their place, a new compromise was put forward by Wincheap ward county councillor Martin Vye and city councillor Nick Eden-Green.

The Liberal Democrat councillors propose closing Hollow Lane to northbound traffic (from Stuppington) at the mini roundabout with Homersham by using no entry or residents only signs.

Traffic heading into Wincheap or the city centre would be directed along Homersham, where parking will also be restricted to either one side of the road or laid out in a chicane style. An HGV ban would also be introduced on Hollow Lane between Wincheap and Homersham.

Cllr Eden-Green said: “This is a compromise that needs to be looked at and properly consulted. Like any sort of compromise, there’s going to be people more pleased about it than others.

“The complete closure of the bottom end of Hollow Lane wasn’t something that received enough support.

“When the Homersham estate was built, the intention all along was to turn it into a major traffic route.

“That hasn’t happened despite the houses being completed several years ago and people living in the bottom end of Hollow Lane face daily congestion problems with both parking and passing traffic.

“There’s been a consultation on this issue before a single brick was even laid in Homersham, so that shows how many years it’s been on the table.

“I think this is a sympathetic solution and parking-wise, there was no concrete support for painting double yellow lines along Homersham.

“The chicane-style parking will also act as a speed deterrent as it would slow down traffic behind parked cars.”

The issue is expected to be back on the joint transportation board’s next agenda in December with county council engineers due to carry out inspections in the weeks ahead.

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