Highways England: Stop adding delays to vital M32 noise-barrier work
Highways England: Stop adding delays to vital M32 noise-barrier work
The Issue
Tired of excessive M32 noise? Then please sign & share this petition :-)
Highways England: Stop adding delays to vital M32 noise-barrier work
In 2015, after designating the residential areas alongside the M32 as 'Noise Important Areas', Highways England announced a plan to install noise barriers, as published on this BBC new article: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-bristol-35152420
Since 2015, Highways England have done nothing but delay upon delay to this work. In 2020, when approached by local councillors after receiving no news for over 5 years, Highways England stated that their current timeline saw work starting in 2023. When approached by The Bristol Post later that year, they pushed their start date back to 2024. After being approached by a local resident this year, Highways England unapologetically revealed that they are not planning to start before 2026. There is clearly a trend here, and with studies demonstrating a link between road noise and heart attacks, diabetes, depression and dementia, it is surely time that Highways England start to take their responsibility seriously.
What's the level of noise we're discussing? From a distance of 10m to 100m from the motorway, in which there are approximately 650 households, the answer is as high as 20db, on average, higher than ambient noise levels, bringing noise up to 75db from 55db; study the decibel-rating system and learn that this means for thousands of people, the M32 routinely makes ambient noise 100 times louder! If you reside near the M32, or are a regular user of Eastville park, Snuff Mills, Stoke Park & Purdown, you don't need me to illustrate how intrusive the noise is.
In 2003, the Danish Environmental Protection Agency estimated that 200-500 Danes die prematurely every year as a result of being exposed to traffic noise.
Construction of a motorway such as the M32, which cuts through heavily populated areas, would never be allowed today, let alone one with no measures in place to reduce noise. When the M32 was built in 1966, there were approximately 7 million cars on the road in the UK, and in 1990 there were 20 million; there are now 39 million. What structural alterations have been undertaken, since the number of cars on the M32 more than doubled in the late 1980's, to mitigate the corroborative increase in noise to nearby residential areas? The answer is: absolutely none. Why have we, our politicians, our councillors and our mayor allowed this issue to go unaddressed for so long?
Their intentions remain unclear, and since the BBC news article, Highways England have revealed nothing about the plans they say they are working hard on. In 2015 they stated that noise barriers would only extend as far as Junction 2, but what about the hundreds of affected homes nearby the M32 between Junctions 2 and 3: on Freemantle Gardens, Freemantle Rd, Stapleton Rd, Chisbury St, Coleridge Rd, Fishponds Rd, Heath St, Glen Park, Boswell St, Argyle Ave, Argyle St, Bourne Ln, Chester St, Robertson Rd, Wood St, St. Mark's Rd, Clare rd, Berwick Rd, Fox Rd, Warwick Ave, Warwick Rd, Waverley St, Lower Ashley Rd, Millpond St, Mina Rd, Rosebery Ct, Roseberry Ave, Gatton Rd, Horley Rd, Merstham Rd, Saxon Rd and Napier Rd; don't any of the people living here deserve some assurance that the noise issue will be addressed? Highways England DO have a duty to those households too, as they have openly stated, but while they put their hands over their eyes & pretend it's okay to delay the work for as long as is convenient for them, we are forced to put our hands over our ears.
Highways England's recent carrot-dangling act is a further insult to the people of Bristol, as their empty promises have given people hope since 2015. Their hypocrisy in stating “We understand the effects of noise on people's health and we've a responsibility to improve the lives of those people located in Noise Important Areas”, whilst backing up such a statement with no action, is offensive.
The time is now, for us to band together to remind Highways England of their responsibilities and promises. If they are not held to account, their delays may go on indefinitely; they have proven that if left to their own devices, they cannot be trusted to act appropriately.
Further steps you can take:
Write to Highways England at info@nationalhighways.co.uk
Copy in / write to you local councillor: Cllr.Marley.Bennett@bristol.gov.uk (Eastville) Cllr.Lorraine.Francis@bristol.gov.uk (Eastville) Cllr.Jenny.Bartle@bristol.gov.uk (Easton) Cllr.Barry.Parsons@bristol.gov.uk (Easton) Cllr.Amirah.Cole@bristol.gov.uk (Ashley – St.Werburghs) cllr.jude.english@bristol.gov.uk (Ashley – St.Werburghs) Cllr.Tim.Wye@bristol.gov.uk (Ashley – St.Werburghs)
Copy in / write to the Mayor of Bristol: mayor@bristol.gov.uk
Ask a question at a Council meeting: https://www.bristol.gov.uk/files/documents/2242-how-to-have-your-say-at-public-meetings-guide/file
At 10,000 signatures this petition will get a response from the government.
At 100,000 signatures this petition will be debated in Parliament.
Sources / further reading:
https://www.bristol247.com/news-and-features/features/a-dagger-into-the-heart-of-bristol/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M32_motorway
179
The Issue
Tired of excessive M32 noise? Then please sign & share this petition :-)
Highways England: Stop adding delays to vital M32 noise-barrier work
In 2015, after designating the residential areas alongside the M32 as 'Noise Important Areas', Highways England announced a plan to install noise barriers, as published on this BBC new article: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-bristol-35152420
Since 2015, Highways England have done nothing but delay upon delay to this work. In 2020, when approached by local councillors after receiving no news for over 5 years, Highways England stated that their current timeline saw work starting in 2023. When approached by The Bristol Post later that year, they pushed their start date back to 2024. After being approached by a local resident this year, Highways England unapologetically revealed that they are not planning to start before 2026. There is clearly a trend here, and with studies demonstrating a link between road noise and heart attacks, diabetes, depression and dementia, it is surely time that Highways England start to take their responsibility seriously.
What's the level of noise we're discussing? From a distance of 10m to 100m from the motorway, in which there are approximately 650 households, the answer is as high as 20db, on average, higher than ambient noise levels, bringing noise up to 75db from 55db; study the decibel-rating system and learn that this means for thousands of people, the M32 routinely makes ambient noise 100 times louder! If you reside near the M32, or are a regular user of Eastville park, Snuff Mills, Stoke Park & Purdown, you don't need me to illustrate how intrusive the noise is.
In 2003, the Danish Environmental Protection Agency estimated that 200-500 Danes die prematurely every year as a result of being exposed to traffic noise.
Construction of a motorway such as the M32, which cuts through heavily populated areas, would never be allowed today, let alone one with no measures in place to reduce noise. When the M32 was built in 1966, there were approximately 7 million cars on the road in the UK, and in 1990 there were 20 million; there are now 39 million. What structural alterations have been undertaken, since the number of cars on the M32 more than doubled in the late 1980's, to mitigate the corroborative increase in noise to nearby residential areas? The answer is: absolutely none. Why have we, our politicians, our councillors and our mayor allowed this issue to go unaddressed for so long?
Their intentions remain unclear, and since the BBC news article, Highways England have revealed nothing about the plans they say they are working hard on. In 2015 they stated that noise barriers would only extend as far as Junction 2, but what about the hundreds of affected homes nearby the M32 between Junctions 2 and 3: on Freemantle Gardens, Freemantle Rd, Stapleton Rd, Chisbury St, Coleridge Rd, Fishponds Rd, Heath St, Glen Park, Boswell St, Argyle Ave, Argyle St, Bourne Ln, Chester St, Robertson Rd, Wood St, St. Mark's Rd, Clare rd, Berwick Rd, Fox Rd, Warwick Ave, Warwick Rd, Waverley St, Lower Ashley Rd, Millpond St, Mina Rd, Rosebery Ct, Roseberry Ave, Gatton Rd, Horley Rd, Merstham Rd, Saxon Rd and Napier Rd; don't any of the people living here deserve some assurance that the noise issue will be addressed? Highways England DO have a duty to those households too, as they have openly stated, but while they put their hands over their eyes & pretend it's okay to delay the work for as long as is convenient for them, we are forced to put our hands over our ears.
Highways England's recent carrot-dangling act is a further insult to the people of Bristol, as their empty promises have given people hope since 2015. Their hypocrisy in stating “We understand the effects of noise on people's health and we've a responsibility to improve the lives of those people located in Noise Important Areas”, whilst backing up such a statement with no action, is offensive.
The time is now, for us to band together to remind Highways England of their responsibilities and promises. If they are not held to account, their delays may go on indefinitely; they have proven that if left to their own devices, they cannot be trusted to act appropriately.
Further steps you can take:
Write to Highways England at info@nationalhighways.co.uk
Copy in / write to you local councillor: Cllr.Marley.Bennett@bristol.gov.uk (Eastville) Cllr.Lorraine.Francis@bristol.gov.uk (Eastville) Cllr.Jenny.Bartle@bristol.gov.uk (Easton) Cllr.Barry.Parsons@bristol.gov.uk (Easton) Cllr.Amirah.Cole@bristol.gov.uk (Ashley – St.Werburghs) cllr.jude.english@bristol.gov.uk (Ashley – St.Werburghs) Cllr.Tim.Wye@bristol.gov.uk (Ashley – St.Werburghs)
Copy in / write to the Mayor of Bristol: mayor@bristol.gov.uk
Ask a question at a Council meeting: https://www.bristol.gov.uk/files/documents/2242-how-to-have-your-say-at-public-meetings-guide/file
At 10,000 signatures this petition will get a response from the government.
At 100,000 signatures this petition will be debated in Parliament.
Sources / further reading:
https://www.bristol247.com/news-and-features/features/a-dagger-into-the-heart-of-bristol/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M32_motorway
179
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Petition created on 10 November 2022