A35 Matters
The A35 through Chideock was designated as a Trunk Road by the Trunk Roads Act 1946, as part of the route from Folkestone to Honiton, via Brighton, Southampton and Dorchester.
Connect Roads has the Design, Build, Finance and Operate (DBFO) Contract for the maintenance of highways and associated works for the A30 and A35 Trunk Roads , which runs until September 2026.
South West Highways / Balfour Beatty is the contractor which carries out the works for Connect Roads.
The A35 Trunk Road (Chideock Morcombelake Bypass) Order 1996 was made after a lengthy Public Enquiry but this, along with many other proposed road improvement schemes across England, was cancelled by Central Government due to cost (The A35 Trunk Road (Chideock Morcombelake Bypass) Order 1996 (Revocation Order) 1999).
There are many issues associated with the A35 through Chideock - Air Quality, volume and speed of traffic, high numbers of HVGs, noise, vibration, out of control vehicles coming down Chideock Hill from the west, HGVs unable to ascend Chideock Hill westbound, lack of footways, lack of safe crossing points towards the east and west ends of the village, and many more.
The Parish Council has no powers over roads but is, and has been for many years, meeting with Oliver Letwin MP, Highways England representatives, West Dorset Environmental Health, the Driver & Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA, was the Vehicle and Operator Services Agency), Dorset Highways and other bodies to try to get improvements made. But, like everything else, it comes down to funding, or, rather, lack of funding.
The following outcomes have been achieved since 1996
- Anti skid surfacing and rumble strips (1990s) (removed due to resident complaints about noise)
- 30 mph limit (1997)
- Speed cameras (1999)
- Air Quality Monitoring began in 2005
- Air Quality Management Area declared (2007)
- Pedestrian crossing (2010)
- "No Footway" sign on the south side just past Bilberry Close (2011)
- Vehicle Activated Sign (2012)
- Reduction of speed limit to east of Chideock (2016)