VOTE: Fewer lorries on roads? We just don't believe it

The latest monitoring equipment used by county council highways officers showed the number of the heavy goods vehicles dropping by up to 100 per cent.

All the 12 traffic monitoring sites '“ which are also located in Climping, Lyminster, Arundel and Walberton '“ showed large drops in the juggernauts.

But councillors from the villages said they did not believe the statistics.

Climping Parish Council's Cllr Barbara Edge said: "The naked eye is far more sensitive than any equipment.

"I can't believe that the number of HGVs in Church Lane has dropped from 300 to 71. That's totally unbelievable. I don't think any resident in the village would agree with that.

"Saying there were 71 lorries is just ludicrous for the number who use that road.

"It makes it look like the number is going down when we all clearly know that's not true because it is going up year after year."

She was backed by Yapton's county councillor Christina Freeman. She disputed the latest figure for lorries using Ford Lane '“ 23 '“ compared to the previous 150.

" I can't believe the equipment could record such a low level. I come along Ford Lane possibly twice a week.

"I would say I see the number of lorries in the high teens and low 20s. I was stuck behind three HGVs the other day," she explained.

The figures are for the average daily usage of the roads from the week's findings.

Even experienced county council assistant highways manager Martin Downy admitted he was surprised by the outcome of the latest survey.

"I had to do a double-take when I looked at some of the figures," he told the Joint Downland Area Committee of parish, district and county councillors.

The disparity between the two surveys has arisen after the county council began to use modern monitoring equipment.

This is more sophisticated and is able to distinguish more clearly between the different types of road users who pass over the pneumatic tubes stretched across carriageways which is the measurement method used.

In particular, it can detect the difference between motorcycles and other vehicles for the first time.

The two-wheelers were previously often wrongly classified.

To assess any changes which the monitoring would produce two surveys were held at the 12 locations last December. The first used the old equipment and the second the new equipment.

Mr Downy said: "The results show that previous assumptions about HGV numbers were inaccurate because of the high proportion of motorcycles or other vehicles that were wrongly classified.

"The results from the latest detectors clearly show that previous surveys over-estimated the number of HGVs that have been using local distributor roads in the Downland area.

"This does not, however, lessen the impact that such vehicles have on these roads or remove the need to ensure that appropriate measures are taken, where possible, to manage the movements of HGVs."

The surveys began in 2003 in response to concerns from residents about the amount of traffic on their roads.

They were repeated in 2005, 2007 and 2008 before the latest pair of measurements were taken.

The first set of figures using the modern equipment will now be used as a benchmark for future surveys, Mr Downy added.

Figures:

These are figures from the two surveys in December, with the latest in brackets, which caused incredulity among councillors.

Climping '“ Church Lane: 340 (71). Lyminster '“ A284: 624 (186). Barnham '“ B2233 Yapton Road: 231 (46). Yapton '“ Yapton Road: 256 (12). Arundel '“ Ford Road: 192 (69). Climping '“ B2233 Yapton Road: 219 (18). Yapton '“ North End Road: 125 (11). Yapton '“ Ford Lane: 150 (23). Walberton '“ The Street: 51 (0). Barnham '“ Barnham Lane: 49 (2). Barnham '“ Lake Lane (west): 81 (0). Barnham '“ Lake Lane (east): 59 (17).

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