This resident of Upper North Street and Montpelier Terrace moved into these streets around four years ago and promptly dislocated her hip. She is a pretty feisty woman in her 90s and was determined to overcome this hugely painful problem. She did and is now totally independent but walks carefully along these streets over the uneven pavements caused by the elm roots. Crossing the road to take her rubbish or do some shopping is difficult because she is a bit slow and has to wait some time to cross with the current traffic. The extra distance she would have to walk if forced to use the crossings at either end of the street would be impossible for her. With a bus every 2 minutes passing along the street, how will she be able to stay independent? As she says, if the Council is determined to go ahead with this diversion, it will be essential that they install a new pedestrian crossing, west of the Regent Hill turn off. This would provide a safer crossing of Upper North Street for older people like this resident, children and people with disabilities.

She believes that Council officers and the bus company have traded her independence for delivery on the Western Road project and on bus timetables, routes and mileage. The residents have been excluded from their consideration. 

This resident is pinning her hopes on the Deputy Leader of the Council, who said before Christmas that she and her party are committed to serving their residents and supporting them in time of need with policies that encourage people to keep active and healthy. She hopes that the Councillor will demonstrate this commitment with action.  She is hopeful that the Council will pause the Western Road project, abort the diversion, restore the 7.5 T weight limit in Upper North Street. Then they will set to work and come up with a solution to deliver the Western Road project in Western Road only without a diversion, and meet the bus company's needs. This solution could use staging, phasing, and timing within each 24 hours to manage two-way traffic throughout the day. Where necessary, temporary traffic lights could be used for short distances and for short periods.