Duck Street Scheme goes through - Long Delay But Work Has Started

Work on the widening of Duck Street, Rushden, a scheme which the town has waited seven years for, is now well under way. The part of carriageway being improved is at the bottom of College Street and along by the car park.

Excavating equipment has taken away the bottom chunk of the slope at the corner of Fitzwilliam Street and the lower portion of the car park, and the area has become a mass of mud.

The work is expected to last for about three or four months – a short time compared with the seven years for which the council has had to wait. The council has suffered a long delay in its plans because of difficulties in acquiring a building on the site. The building was acquired and demolished several weeks ago.

Disappointed

Those who look forward to traffic being able to travel quickly from Wellingborough Road to High Street (opposite Victoria Road) as an alternative to following the one-way route along busy High Street will be disappointed, for the end of the narrow road will remain as narrow as it has always been.

The council has, for many years, hoped to widen the whole of Duck Street, and still has very strong support for such improvements, but it will be many more years before their project is completed.

Properties

Properties would have to be acquired on one side or the other and compulsory purchase, besides causing difficulties about rehousing ten or twenty families, would be forced through long drawn-out procedure.

“It’s taken seven years to get this piece of land,” said Rushden Urban Council’s Surveyor, Mr. W. J. Anker. “For all I know, I may never see the end of the Duck Street scheme while I am still clerk of works for it – and I have 12½ years to go before retirement. These things can take a long time.”

The carriageway now under alteration is to be made 24ft wide. It is now 14ft wide. On each side there is to be an 8ft pavement.

Another highway project which has been the subject of much discussion and criticism is the improvement plan for Highfield Road. Tenders will be invited in January. Normally work starts within three months of tenders being accepted, and this particular work is expected to last between six and eight months. So although it will be several more months before the many complaints stop, this will be the last Christmas with such rough and bumpy conditions.

Easing a dangerous point for motorists

Workmen have started removing the dangerous sharp-angled apex at the corner of Church Parade and Skinner’s Hill, Rushden.

The corner, which forms part of the memorial gardens, has always been a difficult one for motorists to negotiate.

The alterations include removing trees from the memorial gardens and easing the gradient of Skinner’s Hill. It is thought they will take about three months to complete.

Mr R N Sanders, county surveyor, told us that he expected that Skinner’s Hill would be widened by a few feet. He thought this would be done without causing any damage or inconvenience to shop premises opposite the memorial gardens.

Valuable land is ‘sterilised’
Waiting for The By-Pass Decision

Acres of valuable building land on the outskirts of Rushden are “sterilised” by the two lines representing proposed by-passes which have been drawn on either side of the town map.

Mr. R. R. Griffiths, chairman of Rushden Urban Council, and a member of the panel for “any questions” session at Tuesday’s meeting of Rushden Business and Professional Women’s Club, said that until it was decided which of the proposed by-passes should be carried ahead, the valuable land could not be used.

The commencement of building the by-pass would release much land which, when developed, would increase the importance of Rushden, he said.

Another question of interest to residents of Rushden discussed by the panel was of the possibility of building a civic hall for the town.

Mr. Griffiths said that a civic hall would be of great advantage to the people of the town, but added that the cost of providing one would have to be met by the ratepayers.

Mrs. Gladys Marriott, another member of the council on the panel, said that she believed that there was a need for a civic hall but recalled a meeting of representatives of various town organisations held about 15 years ago, at which the same topic was discussed – and rejected.

“It is the fault of the organisations of the town that a hall was not provided, not of the council,” she said.

Obvious Place

Mrs. May Knight, district chairman of the Inner Wheel, said that she thought the Hall Grounds, Rushden, were the obvious place for a civic hall, and the Rev. D. A. Morris, minister of Rushden Mission Church, added that there was a necessity for a civic hall and he thought one could be a great asset to the town.

Answering a question about the effect of the one-way traffic system and restricted parking in the High Street, Mrs. Knight said that it was of “extreme annoyance” to everyone, and was bad for business.

She said though, that Rushden had very good parking facilities adjacent to the main shopping area.

The Crossing

Mr. Morrisspoke of the pedestrian crossing outside his church in Wellingborough Road, and said that he welcomed the crossing when it was first put there. Now, he said, the road is so busy and the traffic travels so quickly, that Sunday school pupils are afraid of crossing there.

During the discussion on the main streets of the town, Mr. Griffiths reported that traffic lights would be erected at the junction of Rectory Road and Newton Road in four to six weeks’ time.

Other topics of importance discussed by the panel included resale price maintenance, family money matters, the British judicial system, subsidising the cost of training British athletes for the Olympic Games with money levied in tax on betting, early marriages and large families.

Panel chairman was Mr. A. C. A. Colton, of Higham Ferrers.

Threat to Car Park Removed

The two-storey stone outhouse which was threatening to topple into the new car park of the Wheatsheaf, Rushden, has been demolished by urban council workmen. It is now a heap of rubble.

Several complaints had been received by the council after it was discovered that children had removed part of a wall on the ground floor of an old building.

The situation was reported at a meeting of the public health committee at the beginning of March, and the Public Health Inspector, Mr. H. W. Ellis, was told “to take appropriate action as a matter of urgency.”

Hurried Up

Mr. Ellis told the “Echo” that the complaints had definitely hurried up the decision to have the building pulled down, although the council had been keeping an eye on the property.

A London firm of solicitors has assured the council that the owner of the building will pay for the demolition work.

Kinky Bend Goes - Work starts after two years’ delay

Work has started on pulling the kink out of Rushden’s most dangerous dog-leg bend. The bend is on the town approach of the A6 – our busiest road.

People have been campaigning for an improvement to this spot for some time. As far back as June, 1962, the “Echo” illustrated the obvious dangers associated with this 30-foot main road with this aerial photograph.

Now, two and a half years later, Northamptonshire County Council contractors have moved in and started demolition work.

Main Reason

The 'kinky' bend (left) and Little Street (right)

A spokesman for the Northamptonshire County Council told the “Echo” that he understood the last resident moved out on Monday.

He added that it was planned to demolish most of the retaining wall, which would then be set back all the way round the corner from opposite Little Street to opposite Harborough Road.

If this is done there is no doubt that the road will not only be widened considerably, but motorists’ view of oncoming traffic will be improved 100 per cent.

Not Too Soon

The wall is not the only thing to be set back. The large advertisement hoardings further along are also to be moved.

By the time the job is completed the whole of this approach to Rushden will be improved – and it will not be a moment too soon.