THE SUMMARY

Suffolk County Council Highways Department, have, without consultation, taken a perfectly functioning road and created an environment where every type of road user is forced to become an obstacle for others on the route. For the first time, residents are waking up to car horns because of tailbacks and people feeling that someone else is in their way. Grove Lane and the surrounding area is a lovely community. The council should be supporting communities like ours to thrive, encouraging communication and shopping locally, not filling it with excess pollution from needlessly jammed traffic, causing frustration and upset with obstacles and hazards, and failing to provide basic infrastructure for local businesses.

THE REQUESTS

We, the undersigned,  demand that SCC Highways addresses the following within 28 days:

1. The unmarked island must be removed without delay before someone is seriously hurt and to remove the traffic-jamming pinch point it creates. This is too urgent to wait for a consultation or review.
2. SCC Highways must release full transcripts of both the consultative mechanisms and the outcomes of the supposed public consultations in 2024, which no local person seems to have been aware of.
3. SCC must release a full copy of the mission statement and planning process that show clearly what these 'improvements' were meant to achieve, because all they have done is create chaos, hazards and traffic congestion.
4. SCC surveyors/planners must arrange a site visit to review the outcome of this 'improvement' , and plan - this time in full consultation with actual residents - remedial works which must include re-widening of the road,  and quantified consideration of how the different road users interact to share the road safely. For example, notice should be taken of the ratio of cyclists opting stay on the highway rather than move across to the cycle lane, or opting to turn down Back Hamlet to avoid Grove Lane altogether.
5. SCC Highways representatives must arrange to meet with local representatives to explain what they believe to have been achieved, and listen to how let down local residents and regular road users feel. The council should be supporting local communities, not making their lives needlessly more difficult.
6. SCC must evidence that they have discussed directly with Ipswich Buses the timing issue caused by no longer having a bus stop to pull into and the tail backs caused by the pinch point at the end of the cycle track that prevents buses from getting through.
7. SCC Highways must explain clearly why cyclists now appear to be being guided to use Grove Lane, when there has been an existing cycle route down Back Hamlet or along Kings Avenue and Rope walk for many issue-free years, which is shown on maps. 
8. SCC Highways must demonstrate that they have taken into account these serious concerns and have amended their plans for the 'improvements' further up in Foxhall Road, as this is part of the same community and we demand to have a safe road running through its heart.
9. In particular, SCC Highways should renew communication with the local business owners on the parade opposite the Back Hamlet junction, who have previously requested limited-time customer parking bays. We hold the council to account for failing to recognise the value that this parade adds to the local community and the important service it provides.

THE CONTEXT

Earlier in 2026, residents and users of Grove Lane were informed by way of yellow road signs and laminated A4 public notices that 'road improvements' would be carried out during July and August, and the road would be shut between 7pm and 6am.

No one has been able to find out about the consultation which SCC Highways is now claiming took place in 2024.

The biggest change has been the provision of a bi-directional cycle path which has replaced the unrestricted parking bays (5-6 cars) and the bus stop beside the park entrance. The cycle path is about 20 metres long and at its lower end there is an unmarked traffic island directing cyclists back onto the main highway. Cyclists going downhill are directed onto the traffic pinch point caused by the island where cars are forced to manoeuvre round each other or stop to give way. Cyclists going up the hill must cross two lanes of bi-directional traffic to reach the cycle path and must then do the same when they leave it again 20 metres up. For obvious reasons, a casual survey has witnessed most cyclists opting to stay on the highway for the duration. It should also be noted that there are very few cyclists using Grove Lane, as there is already an existing cycle route down Back Hamlet which is more direct and avoids the difficult 4-way junction at the bottom of Grove Lane.

The 'improvements' have also focused on 'road narrowing'. The biggest impact of this is that now, residents who wish to park briefly to drop off shopping, get into a cab or receive a delivery, must necessarily cause an obstruction to traffic flow. Previously, the road was wide enough in most places, to accommodate a parked car with room for two cars to pass each other safely beside it. This road narrowing also directly impacts on the amount of room motorists are able to give cyclists when passing, which is directly in opposition to the modifications to legislation and the Highway Code to improve safety for cyclists. Yet another reason why cyclists would now avoid Grove Lane altogether.

To accommodate this uncommonly wide cycle path, the bus has lost its bus stop bay, and must now stop in the carriageway. This necessarily causes a hold up, as traffic can no longer get past. This is surely a backward move.

Arguably the only positive feature of this 'improvement' is the provision of a pedestrian crossing. However, it has further restricted parking for residents. If it had been positioned closer to, or on the other side of the park entrance, the white zig-zagged parking prohibition would have flanked the park boundary rather than residents' homes. Again, this seems to have been designed without consideration for actual residents.

In summary, Suffolk County Council Highways Department, have, without consultation, taken a perfectly functioning road and created an environment where every type of road user is forced to become an obstacle for others on the route. For the first time, residents are waking up to car horns because of tailbacks and people feeling that someone else is in their way. Grove Lane and the surrounding area is a lovely community. The council should be supporting communities like ours to thrive, encouraging communication and shopping locally, not filling it with excess pollution from needlessly jammed traffic, causing frustration and upset with obstacles and hazards, and failing to provide basic infrastructure for local businesses.