Fishwick Island Gone

So, Fishwick Island has gone. I'll post a picture up in the next couple of days once the work has been completed.

Can't really say I'm too happy though, as the safety of the junction has not improved, and we are back where we were a year ago. Surrey County Council has missed an opportunity here to make the junction safer. Pedestrians and cyclists will continue to cross where Fishwick Island was, thus putting themselves and others in danger. SCC should have put barriers up to prevent this.

The excuse given by SCC that cyclists may be crushed against barriers is true, but I think this is less likely to occur here. For starters, there is already a large stretch of barrier across the bridge. This is set back about 18 inches from the road. Why this couldn't have been continued along to the cycle path is beyond me. The path is certainly wide enough.

Cynically, I think this has been done to keep this rumbling on and on. Politically this became a hot potato with the Lib Dems making fools of themselves opposing the removal on political grounds. This was always a safety issue, and how on earth the Lib Dems could think it safer to cross at Fishwick Island rather than the toucan crossing is again, beyond me.

Anyway, we'll see what happens in the coming months. I will be campaigning to have barriers put along the pavement so that crossing the A322 is safe for all forms of road user, be it pedestrians, cyclists or motorists.

Island Update

Last Wednesday, members of the Local Committee and highway people from Surrey County Council, as well as Paul and residents spent and hour and a quarter at Fishwick Island observing happenings and discussing a way forward.

We concluded that changing the traffic light sequencing was a non-starter, but that perhaps KEEP CLEAR road markings around the island would enhance safety and potentially ease congestion if motorists observed the sign.

Tonight, at the Council meeting, the island was debated. Cllr Glynis Preshaw put forward the proposal that the Island be removed and barriers erected to encourage people to use the Toucan crossing.

Paul suggested that the changes as per the Road Safety Stage Three audit be carried out, as well as painting the KEEP CLEAR road markings.

It was put to a vote, and the proposal for removal narrowly won by seven votes to five with one abstenation.

From a democracy point of view, it is a major victory, and I wish sufficient consultation had been made in the first place. Clearly SCC's procedures here are seriously lacking if the highways can be altered with little consultation.

Has the right decision been reached? I don't know. Time would tell if the KEEP CLEAR signs would have worked. Perhaps a Zebra crossing should be put there. What I do know, is that having been quite vocal about its removal, I now believe I have some responsibility for proposing a way forward which works for everyone if possible.

Petition presentation

Presented the petition tonight at the public Local Committee meeting. Quite good fun actually.

Clearly we didn't expect a decision on the island tonight, but we are encouraged that the Committee wants to properly understand the issues surrounding the island. At last this means that some proper scrutiny into the island and the junction will happen.

Mike Peel also presented the petition about the motorway signs that now blight the Basingstoke Canal. Again, nothing further will happen without further consultation.

A major result for democracy in my humble opinion.

Petitions

Petitions have now been placed in a number of establishments in Brookwood against Fishwick Island, and the sister motorway style signs that have popped up down the canal path. They are separate as some people are not opposed to both. They are available in: Brookwood Social Club, the Post Office, Hairtrillos, Airport Taxis and Bentleys Garage.

Further strange goings on around Fishwick Island and its creation seem to have occurred. Difficult to say too much here, but there would appear to be a deliberate attempt to justify the island through dodgy means, not too dissimilar to the dodgy pro-island voting on this website's poll.

Not only is the island a complete nightmare from a congestion point of view, it also creates frustration in drivers who then feel compelled to illegally drive round the island on the wrong side to get to the lights and avoid waiting a further cycle of lights. This website does not condone or practice illegal behaviour, far better to drive in to the garage and then drive straight out again. Not illegal, and it will eventually cause the garage to complain to the Council, who then might do something.

Excellent press coverage recently. I'm sure the press will also be keen to report on Fishwick Island's twinning with Sao Paulo in Brazil, the most congested city in the world. Pictures will follow eventually.

£15k

I notice from this week's News & Mail that the Tour Series event in Woking this year is short of £15k after Woking Borough Council refused to sponsor the event. I'm glad us Council Tax payers won't be stumping up the cost, however the event is extremely important (last year's event was excellent), but it is an amazing co-incidence that Fishwick Island has also cost £15k so far.

Hopefully further monies won't be wasted on this dangerous and congestion generating island and the money spent wisely elsewhere.

I also notice from the Summer edition of the Basingstoke Canal News, that the canal authority is deeply griefed up over the motorway signs that have sprung up down the SSSI canal advertising the Saturn cycleway.

FOI Requests

The Freedom of Information requests came back from Cycling England recently, and I've updated the FOI request page with the answers. The only real noteworthy item is that £25k was allocated to the island, although only £15k has been spent so far, but the solar panals still need to be fitted. No idea what for, but perhaps they should consider not spending that money and using it to pay off some of Woking's or indeed, Surrey's debts.

Another series of FOI questions have now gone off to Surrey Police to understand their point of view, as it was Surrey Police who originally rubber stamped the island from a safety perspective. Clearly they didn't do a particularly good job as the island needed safety remediation work within a few weeks of being built.

Questions and answers will be published as and when.

Expect further coverage this week in the Woking News & Mail.

It's only a matter of time...they can't say they haven't been warned

I think this happened yesterday, certainly that is when I first noticed it. I'll make the assumption that a motorist took the sign out whilst driving over the island trying to get to the lights.

Other developments, we have now organised ourselves into a more professional unit, and will undertake comprehensive surveys as well as keeping pressure up on our elected representatives and the unelected bureaucrats that delight in making 'improvements' without understanding the ramifications.

FOI info in from SCC

The FOI information has arrived from SCC. It does make for very disappointing reading as it proves just how little consultation was made, but even more damning, generally shows that the observations of traffic movements were made at such silly times of the day, that a sensible decision as to whether the island should be built could never be reached. This information will all be published here in due course.

I have today initiated our own survey of the island, and have sent the following email to Paul Fishwick:

"Dear Paul,

Thank you for your efforts in delivering the requested information. I am not going to comment on this at the moment because as a community we are going to deliver a general consensus once we have had time to consult with other people in Brookwood, neighbouring communities and interested parties.

What we are doing is to undertake our own comprehensive review of traffic movements at the junction. This review will take place over the next couple of months or so, fitting around work commitments. Suffice to say we will provide a balanced view of this, including times when traffic can be expected to be at its heaviest, rather than times when traffic is minimal as the SCC observations have done. In all cases, this will be with someone as respected and independent as possible (preferably our Councillor), but in addition to this, I will try to invite you to attend at the same time, albeit at short notice. I don’t know where you work, or where you live, so I don’t know how practical this will prove to be.

I would appreciate it if you would be able to arrange for members of the SCC West Area Highways Office to be aware of our survey so that they may attend as well.

Today, I intend on being at the island at 17:00 for approximately half an hour.
Regards,

Kevin Davis"

If anyone is able to help here, that would be appreciated. I must stress the priority here is to be as independent as possible in gathering this data. I shall also invite members of the cycling community to attend.

Rules, Procedures & Safety

Everything these days is such hard work! My own fault, but I never properly submitted the Freedom of Information request according to the procedures, so the timer starts again (assuming I've got it right now).

An interesting development in that our safety concerns have been listened to. A new high pole has been planted in the middle of the island with keep left signs attached. This should hopefully stop drivers going round the island as they'll be able to see the sign from further back. Make the congestion worse though, as even fewer cars will make it through the cycle of lights.

It probably makes it less safe for multiple cyclists to use the island at once though as there is now less room on the island. I guess if a group of cyclists needs to cross they can go one at a time. In fact, it will probably mean they won't be able to cross much quicker than if they had used the toucan crossing. Funny that.

But hey, let's be honest, common sense was not a qualification required to put this island there in the first place.