GROVE HILL RESIDENTS WANT ACTION TO STOP TRAFFIC CHAOS AT TRAFFIC LIGHTS

11.58.52pm BST (GMT +0100) Thu 7th May 2009

Diane Macfarlane and Alan Dean at the lights on Grove Hill, Stansted. Alan is pointing out where the yellow lines are needed.

Residents of Grove Hill in Stansted are calling for urgent action to stop chaotic traffic jams at the traffic lights in Grove Hill, Stansted. Queues of up to half a mile have built up in recent weeks. It took district councillor Alan Dean 17 minutes to travel through the lights last Wednesday evening (April 29th) on his way home from Elsenham.

Grove Hill is the start of the road from Stansted to Elsenham; a road that would become much busier if the proposed new town at Elsenham is allowed to proceed. The lights control a narrow section of road which is narrow and is single file. The jams occur when cars park on the hill near to the lights.

Resident of Grove Hill, Diane Macfarlane, has been helping Cllr Dean to collect signatures from residents who want urgent action from Essex County Highways. Alan Dean said: "One idea is to put waiting restriction yellow lines near the lights by some of the cottages. Many residents want this. They don't park in front of their own homes as they know the chaos that it causes; angry drivers, honking horns; lorries mounting the pavement, etc."

"I will be passing the signatures and residents opinions on to a parish transport working group which is meeting on Wednesday this week with a representative from the highways department. After months of complaints and letter writing, people in the hill really do want some urgent action. I know this will be welcomed by hundreds of motorists who use Grove Hill each day. Many have now started to 'rat run' through alternative narrow lanes."