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    Berkhamsted High St/Water Lane redevelopment

    Greene Field Road

         The width from the fence along the river to the Collegiate School fence is 8.6m. Even with only one footpath of 2m this leaves 6.6m for the two way carriage way which is not adequate for a road with HGV traffic delivering to shops, restaurants and an increased supermarket. There is the added problem of the right angled bend.
        The junction with Lower Kings Road is already inadequate.  The sight lines to the right are well within the guidelines but to the left it is not possible to see oncoming traffic without encroaching well into the carriageway. Disproportionately few drivers try to turn right here, preferring to use Mill Street which may account for the lack of accidents. This junction  does not meet any of the criteria even for its present use and considerable work would be needed to bring it up to standard for a two way road with HGVs.
        This narrow road and dangerous junction can be compared with the service road and junction which were deemed necessary for the Waitrose development on the west side of Lower Kings Road. The type and amount of traffic generated is certainly no greater than from Greene Field Road but comparison of the Waitrose layout with Greene Field Road and its junction shows very clearly how substandard Greene Field Road is and how much land would be needed for improvement. 
        In spite of a very informative talk from Graham Winwright to the Berkhamsted Annual Town meeting in March this year and in spite of asking for specific information from James Whittaker at the consultation in the Berkhamsted Town Hall in August, it has been impossible to get any hard information about how it is intended  to bring this road and junction up to the required standard.  The Berkhamsted Town Council was assured by Graham Winwright at the Annual Town Meeting  that nothing would be done which would harm the River Bulbourne, which is the concern of the Town Council’s River Bulbourne restoration Partnership. The only other land alongside the road is part of the Collegiate Schools newly refurbished tennis courts. We are asked to take the details on trust.  We refer you to the Concept Statement where the only comments on Greene Field Road are; p.6 2.11 Widen Greene Field Road, p.8 in the grey box ;improvements to the adjoining Highway network MAY be needed especially the Greene Field Road/Lower Kings Road Junction.
        It is our view that without satisfactory access the whole scheme falls.
     
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                Greene Field Road at 4pm