A ROAD which is used as a rat-run by motorists trying to find a way around Lowestoft's town centre congestion is set to benefit from £30,000 of work to reduce traffic and speed.
A ROAD which is used as a rat-run by motorists trying to find a way around Lowestoft's town centre congestion is set to benefit from £30,000 of work to reduce traffic and speed.
The railway bridge at Prospect Road in Oulton Broad is used by motorists to avoid the busy level crossing on Bridge Road where there are frequent delays and queues.
But people living near the bridge, and along the approach routes at Hall Road and Borrow Road, have asked Suffolk County Council to provide traffic calming for the residential area.
Now the county council is carrying out a survey to monitor the number of cars using the road and their speed so that the £30,000 which has been set aside for the project can be put to the best use.
A county council spokesman said: “Once the survey is complete, we will then go back and look at possible options for the area.
“The residents are not happy with the amount of traffic using the road and that is why we are looking into it.
“Once we have options ready, we will go back and consult the residents - we're hoping that these proposals will be ready by Christmas or in early January.”
The £30,000 budget for the Prospect Road improvements is part of a £257,000 pot which has been raised through off-street pay and display car parks in Ipswich and Bury St Edmunds.
The Lowestoft Travelsmart scheme, which was started in September this year and offers personal tailored advice to people who want to stop using their car, has also received a £60,000 boost from the county council.
Earlier this year Guy McGregor, the county council's portfolio holder for roads and transport, announced that multi-million pound regional funding bids will be made this autumn for two long-awaited projects in Lowestoft - a further stretch of the northern spine road to join the A1117 Millennium Way to the A12 Yarmouth Road and a third crossing over Lake Lothing.
The county council's spokesman confirmed yesterday that a bid is being drawn up so that the schemes can progress within the next couple of years.
An update on the road transport funding plan will be discussed by the county council's cabinet on November 4.
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