Travelling through Rayleigh is often a slow journey….

When driving through Rayleigh town I often wonder why there is so much traffic and ‘what’s the hold up’ as I’m sure many do. There are several routes to get from the train station to the other side of town into ‘east’ Rayleigh. They nearly all involve going via Crown Hill or London Hill. The tail backs seem to get more frequent and the frustration grows that this town can not take any more vehicles.

Whilst attending another meeting I heard a very interesting comment from another District Councillor. Whilst looking at the roads through the High St, the number of pedestrian crossings is a contributor to these tailbacks we all face.

So today (Tuesday) whilst driving from the train station to Rayleigh Weir via the town, I actively noted just how many times I needed to ‘stop-start’ – surprisingly, the main cause of the ‘stop-start’ was pedestrians. The crossing opposite the train station was my first ‘stop’, up Crown Hill and someone stepped onto the Zebra crossing – another ‘stop’ – and so the journey continues. Yes it’s stating the obvious but all these Zebra crossings actually do hinder the traffic quite significantly. The next big question is what can be done to reduce the ‘stop-start’ traffic system we have in place? What’s your suggestions? Post them in the comments below