After 470 days, Dogpool Lane was reopened on the 23rd of May 2024. The eastbound lane was closed to allow the construction of the Pershore Junction student accommodation. It resulted in a huge increase in traffic using Kitchener Road, Hobson Road, Cecil Road, Fashoda Road and Manilla Road. On one day, Manilla Road had 780 vehicles using it.
Residents reported major issues with speeding and aggressive behaviour from impatient drivers. The police were ineffective with dealing with the issues. Most of the traffic was from people ignoring the no left and right turns but there were no efforts to police this and residents reports weren't acted on. Also residents tried to set up a SpeedWatch but this wasn't actively supported.
There was little, if any support from our Councillors. There were efforts to investigate temporary traffic calming but the proposal from the developers was stuck with the Councillors for months and proved unsuitable as it would have removed 36 parking spaces.
Hopefully things will return to something close to normal but as speeding and rat running have been long standing issues, efforts to find long term solutions will continue.