County officers have been accused of putting the needs for freight traffic ahead of residents’ safety in Toft Hill and Etherley.
A public meeting heard that a weight restriction on the A68 through the villages is unlikely to happen and permanent speed cameras also cannot be installed.
These were among the requests made during a public meeting at Toft Hill and Etherley Community Centre on Tuesday, March 31.
The hall was packed with residents leaving standing room only.
One of the main requests was for HGVs to be rerouted along Hartrigg Lane and a weight limit be imposed on the road through Toft hill.
However the ccouncty council’s acting head of transport Nick Bryan said this would not be possible.
He added that it would cost up to £12 million to upgrade Hartrigg Lane and further cash would have to be spent on changing three junctions.
He said: “Unfortunately, it puts it out of reach in terms of the budget we have at this time.”
On the imposition of a weight-limit he added that a viable alternative route would have to determined.
Mr Bryan said: “Ultimately that still comes back to a conversation about the economic benefits and disbenefits that would cause.
“While you could restrict access, those that operate the HGVs using them for business would be well within their rights to object and likely to succeed to object, because the alternative would be so expensive that they can’t fulfil their existing routes and service in the area.”
Bishop Aukland MP Sam Rushworth said it appeared as if officers had already made a decision of rerouting HGVs from the villages.
He added: “I appreciate there are arguments put forward for why that is not desirable , that they have to go slightly further, to me there is a tension of rights here between HGVs that want to shave three minutes off their journey time and a village of people that want their children to be safer and don’t want traffic in front of their homes.”
When asked by the MP if there “is scope to at least explore the option”, Mr Bryan agreed there was.
Mr Bryan told residents that £750,000 has been set aside for road safety measures in the villages.
This could be used to create a safe crossing – possibly near the school, changes to the junction where Toft Hill meets High Etherley, additional parking spaces, flashing speed warning signs and other traffic calming measures, he said.
