MEMBERS of the Ackender Road Residents’ Association are urging Hampshire County Council to look at the wider picture when considering the call by nearby Highridge residents to permanently close their street to through traffic.

While sympathetic to the bid by residents to put a stop to Highridge being used as a rat run, residents’ association chairman Clare Allen believes the problem has more to do with the fact that the designated route for traffic travelling from north to south of the town, from the A339 Basingstoke Road to link up with the A31/A32, or B3006 Selborne road, is not user friendly.

There are too many delays, she feels, at the T-junction at Pertuis Avenue and the Basingstoke Road, causing frustration among drivers who are then tempted to use the residential roads to bypass the hold ups. What is badly needed, Mrs Allen thinks, is a new roundabout.

She said: “Money has been found to construct two roundabouts associated with the new housing developments in New Odiham Road, but where we urgently need a roundabout, at the Pertuis Way junction with Basingstoke Road, there isn’t currently going to be one. This needs to be reconsidered, given all the new developments in the town and the growth in vehicle traffic.”

The concern is that if Hampshire County Council decides to tackle the Highridge problem in isolation, the neighbouring roads will bear the brunt.

She said: “We well understand the annoyance felt by our neighbours when drivers ignore the traffic regulation orders which are in force in both Ackender Road and Highridge, and other residential roads between Butts Road and Basingstoke Road, but you can’t blame people for taking short cuts if it is difficult to use the correct route.

“It is a much wider issue that affects a much wider area. If it was easier and quicker to follow the right route, then I believe people would do so.”

According to Mrs Allen, there were two accidents involving pedestrians on Ackender Road in the run-up to Christmas, felt by residents to be due to motorists driving too quickly in a built-up area, in clear contravention of the traffic regulation orders.

The speed limit in Ackender Road is currently 30mph but residents want it reduced to 20mph, and they have been fighting for some years for the implementation of other traffic-calming measures.

They are currently awaiting the withdrawal of restrictions that will allow them to park on the road, to put Ackender Road on a similar footing to Queen’s Road where on-street parking makes it difficult to drive other than slowly and with extreme care.

Desperate to improve the situation, Mrs Allen added: “We are equally anxious about the safety of pedestrians. There are four significant pedestrian routes that cross our road, and we are one of the most populous residential roads in the town.

“There are also two large blocks of flats for the retired.

“The speed at which many drive along the road, and the difficulty caused by the bend, make a 20mph limit essential.”