After years of procrastination and delay, September 2004 saw the first visible attempt by North Somerset council to do anything about the appalling traffic for many years.
They installed a series of speed tables and cushions that are designed to slow down speeding traffic. (Believe it or not, excessive speed is occasionally a problem in our village: at weekends, during the evening and when vehicles get to the end of a long delay and see an empty road ahead!).
They also painted some lines on the road near our shops to limit parking and thus improve traffic flow.
And finally they decided to widen the pavement/narrow the roadway near a notoriously congested section of road that has always been known, for obvious reasons, as The Narrows.
By an amazing coincidence, September 2004 was also the date chosen by the villagers of Banwell and the Parish Council to launch their campaign in favour of a bypass - 60 years after the idea was first suggested!
The campaign consists of several elements:
- Display of high-impact posters and banners at prominent sites across the village.
- Distribution of leaflets to motorists explaining the reason for the increased delays.
- Launch of www.bypassbanwell.co.uk - a website to inform public opinion and collect signatures for...
- ...our petition in favour of a bypass.
- Launch of associated text messaging service for motorists to support the pro-bypass campaign.
- Briefing of local and national media.