VEHICULAR access to Snarlton Lane and Union Street could be restricted to ‘access only’ in a bid to solve ongoing traffic issues.
The idea has been proposed by Melksham Town Council, and it is hoped that it could solve issues associated with parents of Forest and Sandridge School using Snarlton Lane at school-run times; and speeding issues on Union Street.
“It could solve most of the problems at a stroke,” said cllr Mike Sankey, who proposed the idea, at a recent town council meeting.
Councillors have agreed to formally ask Melksham’s community area transport group (CATG) to explore the idea for Snarlton Lane.
About the proposal cllr Jon Hubbard said, “I think it would be a very effective way of dealing with the challenges of the school drop-off point – there’s not meant to be a school drop-off point down there!”
However, about the Union Street proposal, cllr Hubbard highlighted that the idea has previously been rejected by local police and Wiltshire Council’s highways team as they felt it was “completely unenforceable” because of the number of businesses on the street.
However, cllr Adrienne Westbrook felt that the idea was worth exploring as “something might have changed” since it was last considered.
Councillors agreed to ask the town clerk, Linda Roberts, to have a informal discussion with a Wiltshire Council highways officer, to find out if the ‘access only’ proposal for Union Street is “worth moving forward”.
