IN the Letters Column of last week's edition there was an item signed by a "Gainsborough Resident" on the topic of traffic calming.

I would like to assure the author and the residents of Warrington that the Council takes very seriously the concerns about the problems of accidents and traffic congestion on our roads. Very little money was available before we became a Unitary Authority in April 1998 to reduce accidents and implement traffic calming. Limited works were carried out with funds taken up from opportunities such as joint councils' funding development contributions and housing grants.

One of the first tasks on the Council in April was to analyse accident figures and we were genuinely extremely concerned to find that the situation in Warrington was a lot worse than we had been led to believe. The reduction of accidents is a major priority for the Council and to tackle the problem it has managed to win money from Government and has decided to invest its own money in carrying out works to reduce accidents.

Accident reduction schemes are selected using national criteria that look to get the largest cut in accidents for the most efficient investment. In addition traffic calming schemes that reduce accidents and improve the environment are analysed as one of the most frequent requests the Council receive. To select the schemes that should take priority is not easy and the Council uses approved criteria to assist the decision making process.

Gainsborough Road is one such area from which a request has been received for traffic calming, strongly supported by local Councillors. Careful investigations were made to gather the data to help see what the nature of the problem is and to examine the criteria to help with the prioritisation of the scheme against over 230 requests we have received across the Borough.

The scheme has been accepted on to a list, which will commit the Council to look further at the road and its problems, but its priority is less than other sites. Certain requests, it should be noted, result in no commitment to further action.

In the meantime we have been working closely with our Police colleagues to carry out enforcement as a part of a Borough wide campaign that resulted in over 1000 prosecutions. Attention was given to Gainsborough Road, during the campaign. These campaigns do bring results in slowing traffic down and discouraging inappropriate speeds.

The Council is working very hard to improve matters in Warrington, but the sheer scale of the problem means that it will take time. People who drive can help by being aware of and making themselves accountable for the way they drive. Driving slower and using other ways to travel will assist the reduction in accidents, environmental intrusion and improve people's health.

KEITH MILLINGTON

Director of Environmental Services

Converted for the new archive on 13 March 2001. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.