How to solve a problem like Union Street?

AN idea to restrict traffic on Union Street to ‘access only’ – in a bid to reduce the number of motorists using the road as a ‘rat run’ – has been dismissed by Wiltshire Council as too difficult to enforce.

The idea by Melksham Town Council has been described as ‘almost impossible’ to enforce because of the number of businesses along Union Street and the public car park.

Instead, at a meeting of the economic development and planning committee   – one of the last meetings before the local election – town councillors agreed to ask Wiltshire Council’s highways team for “deliverable” solutions, before surveying residents and businesses on Union Street.

“We’ll ask them to give us a deliverable and affordable solution that they can back, that we can consider,” said the town council’s economic development manager, David McKnight.

The town council will wait for the results of a traffic survey, which is expected to be carried out this month, before approaching Wiltshire Council’s highways team for solutions.

Former town councillor, Mike Sankey, said at the meeting that he was “disappointed” that Wiltshire Council thought that the ‘access only’ idea was unenforceable.

He also suggested that changing the weight limit of Union Street – reducing it  to a maximum of 3 tonnes – could help reduce traffic.