Friday 17 October 2014

LED replacement programme continues

Work on the second phase of LED streetlight replacement continues next week (w/b October 20th).
During this phase Transport for Buckinghamshire expects to convert 2,585 traditional street lamps in 110 locations with more efficient LED lanterns before next March.
Modern LED (light emitting diode) lamps not only save energy, create lower carbon emissions and reduce maintenance costs, but are also made of materials with less environmental impact.
Last week TfB replaced 111 traditional lanterns with LEDs and next week the programme continues with visits to Oxford Road, Denham and the Linslade Western Bypass in Soulbury:
• 20-21 October: Linslade Western Bypass, Soulbury - 10.00-14.00 - using temporary traffic lights
• 20-24 October: Oxford Road, Denham - 09.30-15.30 - using temporary traffic lights.
These timings are the window of work that our contractor is permitted to use, so traffic restrictions will fall sometime within this.
The scheme is due for completion by Christmas. For further information, please visit www.buckscc.gov.uk/ledreplacement

Tuesday 14 October 2014

Joined-up approach to public transport will beat 'bus is best' thinking

A call for a new and flexible approach to Buckinghamshire County Council's support for public transport has come today (Tuesday) from its all-party Environment, Transport and Localities Select Committee.

Members are urging the Council's Cabinet to support the setting up of an integrated transport unit to drive a joined-up approach to the annual £25 million investment in all transport services.

It follows an in-depth study of Buckinghamshire's public transport during the past six months.

And, say councillors, it's clear that a fresh joined-up, long-term strategic vision for public transport over the next 20 years will better serve residents' needs, rather than the current practice of basing support on demand for existing services in isolation.

Councillors, who heard two days of evidence from the county's transport providers, say new policies should break the 'bus is best' thinking that currently drives the allocation of funding.

Select Committee Chairman Warren Whyte said: 'The image of public transport is so heavily focused on buses that other options, such as taxis and community transport, are viewed merely as "alternative". This makes it difficult to shift the mindset towards a wider view.'

They had heard evidence of young people in Buckinghamshire's rural communities sharing taxis to get to social events because they were more flexible and cheaper than buses.

The Select Committee suggests there is a strong case for county council leadership in driving better community transport schemes - and more of them - to increase local on-demand services in areas commercial operators are unable to serve.

And, it says, there is a missed opportunity to strengthen support for a taxi token scheme to more closely target the needs of disabled residents. The only scheme currently in Buckinghamshire is run by Aylesbury Vale District Council.

The Select Committee heard evidence of a disconnect between different transport sectors, resulting in a failure to identify and exploit opportunities for links between community and commercial routes.

Identifying these gaps has not been easy, councillors heard, because it has not been possible to map all 66 community transport schemes in the county to see where they touch mainstream services.

With diminishing resources and tighter budgets, Mr Whyte said the Select Committee saw the best future in integrated transport services for Buckinghamshire that were overseen from a central point to get the best value for money and ensure all partners worked together effectively and more efficiently.

'Public transport has worked in the past to meet people's needs,' he said. 'But people's employment, health and leisure needs are changing and we need to respond to this to help shape a joined-up and flexible approach that will meet our needs into the 2020s.'

The Select Committee agreed today (Monday October 13) to present its inquiry report to the Cabinet on November 10.

Monday 13 October 2014

Chief Executive and his senior team take a day out to volunteer at the Puzzle Centre

Chris Williams, the County Council’s Chief Executive, and his senior management team colleagues, rolled up their sleeves to take part in a volunteering day on Friday (10 October), helping to refurbish the grounds of the Puzzle Centre in Middle Claydon.

The team of Directors helped out with some much-needed grounds and garden work, painting fences, cutting back trees and improving the outdoor play area at the specialist education centre.
The team were assisted by Ringway Jacobs and Guy Lachlan of Jones and Cocks Ltd, who supplied extra manpower, tools and materials for the refurbishment.

Chris Williams said: “The day was hard work but it’s been great fun getting stuck in as a team with fence painting, gardening and gravel laying! It has also been very rewarding to be able to help the Puzzle Centre, who give a unique type of education and support to young children with autism and their families.”

The Puzzle Centre charity promotes and delivers early intervention for very young children with autism and similar communication difficulties; and provides training and outreach to families and practitioners throughout the UK. The centre’s mission is to ensure that every pre-school-aged child with autism or similar communication needs is offered prompt, appropriate and high-quality education, therapy and support.

Alex Stanyer, the centre's Principal, said: “We are delighted that Chris Williams and his team of Directors have taken the time to visit us, see the work we do and muck in! Volunteering is vital for charities and even more so when you are supporting your local charity.”

Find out more about volunteering in Buckinghamshire at http://www.buckscc.gov.uk/community/helping-your-community/volunteering/

Read more about the Puzzle Centre and its work at www.puzzlecentre.org.uk

TfB's winter competitions

This year, Transport for Buckinghamshire (TfB) is launching two new winter competitions. Their teams are nearly ready for winter, but the TfB twitter and facebook pages need a fresh new winter look.

TfB is looking for some winter pictures for their cover picture on facebook. To brighten up the page, the cover picture will change every week and they want YOU to help contribute. This could be a photo, drawing, poem, or even a short sentence on what winter means to you. They will then feature a different winner each week on their facebook page.

Ruth Vigor-Hedderley, Cabinet Member for Transport said, "Winter is a cold and dark season, so we'd love to get as many people involved in keeping our facebook pages fun as well as informative. I know there are a lot of talented people out there, so I'd encourage everyone to get involved and send us some really innovative entries."

This competition is open to all ages. Entries should be in landscape orientation. Entries can be emailed or posted. The closing date is 31 October.

Schools across the county are also getting involved and have been invited to redesign TfB's twitter and facebook avatars. The winners will see their designs feature on the TfB facebook and twitter pages throughout the season and will also win a trip to one of TfB's depots, see their salt stores, winter vehicles and meet the men who drive the gritters.
Competition entries should be sent to: tfbcomms@buckscc.gov.uk

Monday 6 October 2014

A40 Abbey Way Flyover night works next week

Good progress is being made with the structural improvement and resurfacing work on the A40 Abbey Way flyover in High Wycombe.

Installation of the high containment kerbing along Lily's Walk and Abbey Way (Westbound) is now complete. Waterproofing repairs have also been carried out to help with water leakage into the shops below. Deterrent paving on Lily's Walk is nearly complete.

Night works will commence during the week commencing 6 October to facilitate resurfacing and road marking. Lane closures will be in place to carry out these operations, which are highly weather dependent.
Monday night 06-10-14 from 21:00 to 06:00hrs
Eastbound (London bound) closed for lane 2 resurfacing.
Tuesday night 07-10-14 from 21:00 to 06:00hrs
Westbound (Eden shopping centre bound) closed for lane 1 or 2 resurfacing.
Wednesday night 08-10-14 from 21:00 to 06:00hrs
Westbound (Eden shopping centre bound) closed for lane 1 or 2 resurfacing.
Thursday night 09-10-14 from 21:00 to 06:00hrs
Westbound (Eden shopping centre bound) closed for Lily’s Walk resurfacing and new road markings
Friday night 10-10-14 from 21:00 to 06:00hrs
Eastbound (London bound) closed for road new road markings.
Further information and updates can be found at www.buckscc.gov.uk/abbeyway.

LED street light replacement programme for next week

Transport for Buckinghamshire has started the next phase of replacing traditional street light lanterns with more efficient LED lamps.

This phase of the scheme will see a total of 2,585 street lights in 110 locations will be converted by March 2015, providing energy savings, lower carbon emissions and a reduction in maintenance costs compared with traditional units.

During the week commencing 6 October, the following sites will receive a visit to replace the lamps under varying traffic restrictions:

Dorney Hill North, Beaconsfield - Stop/Go - 09.30-15.30
Slough Road, Beaconsfield - Temporary traffic lights - 09.30-15.30
Oxford Road, Denham - Temporary traffic lights - 09.30-15.30
Denham Avenue, Denham - Temporary traffic lights - 09.30-15.30
Hitcham Road, Burnham - no restrictions
Chesham Road, Amersham - Stop/Go - 09.30-15.30
Amersham Road, Amersham - Stop/Go - 10.00-16.00

These timings are the windows that the contractor is permitted to work within. The restrictions to the road will fall sometime within this.

For more information and a full programme, visit , www.buckscc.gov.uk/ledreplacement

Wednesday 1 October 2014

Work starts on Toucan Crossing

Work to install a Toucan pedestrian crossing on the A41 Bicester Road, Aylesbury, starts on Monday October 6.

The crossing, near Jackson Road, which will cater for bikes and pedestrians, includes a 50 metre (54 yard) stretch of shared cycleway and footpath. It will link with the cycleway on the opposite side to Dickens Way.

Work should be finished by October 31, and includes 'no waiting at any time' restrictions to ensure visibility for westbound traffic approaching the crossing.

Transport for Buckinghamshire (TfB) says that during installation two-way traffic will be maintained during work hours between 7.30am and 4pm, and that night-time work, starting at 7pm will be kept to a minimum.

It's envisaged that, depending on the weather, night time work will be done on October 8, 22 and 23, and TfB will need a further one-night closure in November to lay high friction surfacing.

During night time work the entrances to Dickens Way and Jackson Road will be closed.

The crossing is being funded through the ALUTS (Aylesbury Land Use and Transportation Strategy), secured by Aylesbury Vale District Council.

Full details of the project can be found at www.buckscc.gov.uk/a41crossing

Traffic flows on the Western Link Road

Aylesbury's Western Link Road opened to traffic this afternoon (Tuesday September 30). Covering just under two miles, the link road connects the A41 at the new Berryfields estate with the A413 at the Buckingham Park estate.

Just before 9am, a small group gathered on the link road, and Ruth Vigor-Hedderly, Buckinghamshire County Council Cabinet Member for Transport, cut the green ribbon to mark the first day in traffic.

Joining Ruth for the opening ceremony were Richard Harrington, Chief Executive of the Buckinghamshire Thames Valley Local Enterprise Partnership, Ian Mitchell, Chairman of the Consortium of developers that built the road, and representatives from the new Berryfields residents groups.

Ruth said: 'The Western Link Road will do a great deal to help relieve pressure on routes in and around Aylesbury, which is good news for residents getting around town. Also good news is the shared use cycleway along the link road, which will eventually give cyclists from the estates a new route to Aylesbury Vale Parkway station.'

Work on the £11 million project began in June 2013 by Kier Infrastructure and Overseas, which has spent more than 160,000 operational hours in total on the project, which has been nominated for a Green Apple award for environmental best practice.

The Berryfields Consortium of developers - Taylor Wimpey South Midlands, Martin Grant Homes, Kier Living and Banner Homes - has funded the link road.

When complete Berryfields will comprise more than 3,000 homes, two schools, 13 play areas, 15 open spaces and a local centre.