Island's Vulnerability: A3023

Ian Limb, the 'Comms' person for Portsmouth Water helpfully uploaded onto our Facebook page the Company's latest News regarding the A3023 incident yesterday. The significant sentence seems to be: "The volume of traffic experienced had not been fully appreciated and whilst we complied with the guidance [from Hampshire County Council] of avoiding peak times for this work it is now clear that it should not have been undertaken during daytime." https://www.portsmouthwater.co.uk/2017/02/01/mains-renewals-langstone-road/

This is the recurrent theme for us living and/or working on Hayling: but it's not just the volume of traffic that our single access road 'cul de sac' struggles with, it's also the increased weight of that traffic. HIRA has, over the years, repeatedly provided Havant Borough and Hampshire County Councils with road reports highlighting the growing problem. During Monday's Infrastructure meeting the detailed road reports of years were yet again explained and held up by a HIRA Committee member for all to see. Indeed the statistics are available from HCC. Despite all the evidence even now in 2017, 31 years after a technical report demonstrated that the A3023 was already exceeding its original, intended capacity, HIRA is still having to bring Hayling's problems to both Councils' attention.

Please note our earlier NEWS item in which Havant Borough Council seeks Islanders' help in reducing/limiting our traffic. It is puzzling that existing residents and businesses should reduce their road use yet Havant BC still plans to develop the Island. Will the Council similarly require Developers to a) restrict their vehicle activity during development b) tell property buyers that their car useage must be limited?