Sustainable Transport and the East Herts draft District Plan

Your views on traffic and parking in the town
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james
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Re: Sustainable Transport and the East Herts draft District

Post by james » Wed 19 Mar, 2014 1:29 pm

re: Buzz's suggestions.

This all frees up some of the pinch points, but all you'll end up with is traffic going faster through the town. And then if it's faster, more people will then use the town centre as a cut through, and then it'll eventually clog up again.

The easiest thing to do is to remove traffic from the town. Remove all on-street parking except for the Taxi ranks, prevent all vehicles turning towards the town along Fore St. and block off St. Andrew Street somewhere between parliament square and Castle St. Tadaaaa. Town centre becomes somewhere people want to visit again. And the lack of on-street parking is now mitigated by being able to park for 30 minutes for free in Gascoyne Way and St. Andrew St. car parks.

Toady
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Re: Sustainable Transport and the East Herts draft District

Post by Toady » Wed 19 Mar, 2014 9:35 pm

Many good ideas, prompted by Highwayman's challenge on the definition of gridlock. Is there a means by which we could engage the powers that be to get the best of them examined properly and debated?

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Steve
Project Leader
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Re: Sustainable Transport and the East Herts draft District

Post by Steve » Wed 19 Mar, 2014 9:49 pm

Can we also outlaw parking wholly on the pavement? I have seen vehicles all but blocking the footway on Port Hill, forcing anyone with a push chair in to the road and potential danger.

MDT
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Re: Sustainable Transport and the East Herts draft District

Post by MDT » Wed 19 Mar, 2014 10:42 pm

Returning to the idea of the bypass: It would be a shame to loose open farmland surrounding Hertford to provide for a bypass. However, the Highcross bypass to the north of Ware shows that newer road building schemes can be (relatively) sensitive.

If ever that was an option, the surely the quid pro quo that EHDC should seek on behalf of the town is the removal of the inner relief road and, as far as is possible, the reconstruction of the parts of Hertford that were lost when it was built.

If the money and political will was available to bulldoze half the town in the 1960s, it's a shame that it couldn't be found to reverse it (surely a much cheaper and more palatable option?) 50 years later.

buzz
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Re: Sustainable Transport and the East Herts draft District

Post by buzz » Thu 20 Mar, 2014 8:44 am

Steve wrote:Can we also outlaw parking wholly on the pavement? I have seen vehicles all but blocking the footway on Port Hill, forcing anyone with a push chair in to the road and potential danger.
Totally agree. As far as I can ascertain, driving on the footpath (pavement) is illegal, but parking there isn't!! I'm afraid that far too much leeway is given to arrogant motorists who think they have the right to park wherever they like and put other road users, particularly pedestrians, and more particularly, vulnerable pedestrians, (mums with puschairs, visually impaired and disabled), in real danger.It should be noted that the pavement forms part of the highway, and there is an offence to "Without lawful authority or reasonable excuse to obstruct the highway". Nobody, either the police or the council (who also have authority to prosecute for such offences) seem willing to do anything about it. Likewise, it appears that the council parking attendants, (or whatever they're called) seem to do nothing about vehicles parked on the pavements where there are parking restrictions. Those restrictions apply to the whole of the highway, including the pavements, so why are they not enforced?

Marilyn
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Re: Sustainable Transport and the East Herts draft District

Post by Marilyn » Thu 20 Mar, 2014 9:18 am

buzz wrote:
Steve wrote:Can we also outlaw parking wholly on the pavement? I have seen vehicles all but blocking the footway on Port Hill, forcing anyone with a push chair in to the road and potential danger.
Totally agree. As far as I can ascertain, driving on the footpath (pavement) is illegal, but parking there isn't!! I'm afraid that far too much leeway is given to arrogant motorists who think they have the right to park wherever they like and put other road users, particularly pedestrians, and more particularly, vulnerable pedestrians, (mums with puschairs, visually impaired and disabled), in real danger.It should be noted that the pavement forms part of the highway, and there is an offence to "Without lawful authority or reasonable excuse to obstruct the highway". Nobody, either the police or the council (who also have authority to prosecute for such offences) seem willing to do anything about it. Likewise, it appears that the council parking attendants, (or whatever they're called) seem to do nothing about vehicles parked on the pavements where there are parking restrictions. Those restrictions apply to the whole of the highway, including the pavements, so why are they not enforced?
Totally agree. There was a meeting of lorry and a van this morning near the Warren gates, thankfully they were sensible enough for one to give way to the other but. With a vehicle parked there it did not make their life easy!

Most of those house will have been rented/ purchased with full knowledge that they have no parking space/garage.

Someone parked on the pavement in Duncombe Road the other day, I can only assume visiting the Church Hall would have come back to their car to find it with a crushed wing mirror, of course it may have been like that when the parked it but it did make me wonder if a large vehicle, well probably not that large, had found squeezing through the gap they had left just a bit too small..

Golden
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Re: Sustainable Transport and the East Herts draft District

Post by Golden » Thu 20 Mar, 2014 9:38 am

Although property damage is unfortunate and may be costly it can normally be repaired - making people walk into traffic because you are too lazy or selfish is unacceptable. I witnessed an incident a few weeks ago where a van driver pulled up on the pavement opposite the Stonehouse just a few metres in front of a young woman with a pushchair plus toddler in tow - he must have seen them - but still forced them to step out into the road to pass his van. We regularly get people parking on the pavement outside the house and its now almost an accepted norm; no consideration for others.

Marilyn
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Re: Sustainable Transport and the East Herts draft District

Post by Marilyn » Thu 20 Mar, 2014 9:59 am

Golden wrote:Although property damage is unfortunate and may be costly it can normally be repaired - making people walk into traffic because you are too lazy or selfish is unacceptable. I witnessed an incident a few weeks ago where a van driver pulled up on the pavement opposite the Stonehouse just a few metres in front of a young woman with a pushchair plus toddler in tow - he must have seen them - but still forced them to step out into the road to pass his van. We regularly get people parking on the pavement outside the house and its now almost an accepted norm; no consideration for others.
Oh yes totally agree, it never ceases to amaze me how many people drive down Maidenhead Street which I though was supposed to be pedestrian and deliveries only.
The other morning I came out of Costa to find a van coming at me from Bull Plain direction, that I did not expect and wondered at the time if a blind person would have realised they were there!
It just made me smile that they could have parked a bit further away, round the corner and come back to an undamaged car.

hertford resident
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Re: Sustainable Transport and the East Herts draft District

Post by hertford resident » Fri 30 May, 2014 3:38 pm

The traffic on St Andrew's street earlier today (about 11) was pretty bad with traffic backing up past the Thai restaurant moving very slowly, the reason appears to have been that the pub opposite Lloyds pharmacy was taking a delivery and this was causing congestion, could the council introduce a by law stating that deliveries should be taken between certain hours? (not sure what the optimal time would be but I am sure that this can be identified from the various traffic surveys that have been taken). The traffic situation in Hertford requires a number of factors to be taken into consideration such as ensuring businesses are attracted to the town etc. but it appears that the council doing very little to relieve the congestion problem, (Sainsbury's being allowed to build a store, proposed new properties in Bengeo).

Joby
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Re: Sustainable Transport and the East Herts draft District

Post by Joby » Fri 30 May, 2014 4:32 pm

hertford resident wrote:it appears that the council doing very little to relieve the congestion problem, (Sainsbury's being allowed to build a store, proposed new properties in Bengeo).
People driving everywhere in their cars are also doing little to relieve the congestion problem. It's not all the council's fault...

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