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...Statistics:Posted by Joby — Fri 30 May, 2014 4:32 pm
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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.
Statistics:Posted by Marilyn — Thu 20 Mar, 2014 9:59 am
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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?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.
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..
Statistics:Posted by Marilyn — Thu 20 Mar, 2014 9:18 am
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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?Statistics:Posted by buzz — Thu 20 Mar, 2014 8:44 am
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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.
Statistics:Posted by MDT — Wed 19 Mar, 2014 10:42 pm
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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.
Statistics:Posted by james — Wed 19 Mar, 2014 1:29 pm
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Statistics:Posted by codek2 — Wed 19 Mar, 2014 12:48 pm
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I may have mentioned this on the old forum, but I believe there are some measures that could be taken to alleviate some of the traffic problems in the town. Firstly, the cab rank outside The Woolpack could be moved to outside Deco's in Parliament Square and Red lines installed from the Old Cross traffic lights up to Parliament Square, which would include no parking/waiting for Blue Badge holders as well. At present, vehicles waiting at the lights to turn right to go to Bengeo conflict with buses and other large vehicles when there are cabs and Blue Badge holders (and people going to the chip shop etc) parked there. This causes a tailback with vehicles from St. Andrew Street blocking the lights. When the lights turn green for Bengeo bound traffic no-one can go anywhere. In addition, by placing the cab rank outside Deco's where there is a limited time parking bay at present, it would be better placed for evening revellers using The Blackbirds, Hertford House, etc, thus reducing the likelihood of disorder problems in the evenings. Secondly the parking bays in St Andrew Street opposite Beckwith's should be scrapped. It is the narrowest part of the street, and when vehicles are parked there, buses and other large vehicles cannot pass if there are vehicles coming in the opposite direction. No doubt the planners would argue this helps to slow traffic, but anyone who knows the area would know that is a nonsense. Another problem that needs to be addressed is the situation between the War Memorial and The Shire Hall. At present there are frequent 'Mexican stand-offs' between buses travelling towards the War Memorial and vehicles travelling from it. This often results in buses having to mount the pavement in order to pass, causing damage to the paving stones. This could be made a 'Buses Only' route in both directions with an execption for delivery vehicles going to Market Place. Initially this would have to be policed as people would be inclined to take a chance. As it is, I often see private cars and vans contravening the 'Buses only' restriction. At present, with all vehicles entering the town centre from the War Memorial we have the situation where there are more entry points into the town than exits. Finally, why not open up an exit route from Sainsbury's by allowing vehicles to pass through the Hartham Car park, over the bridge and onto Port Hill. None of the above measures would cost much to implement, and surely they must be worth a try.
Excellent post Buzz. You have very succinctly phrased the issues that could easily be tackled and would go some way to resolving the pinch points in the town centre. Why don't you stand for election to the local council - you would get my vote!!!!Statistics:Posted by Robbo — Wed 19 Mar, 2014 10:27 am
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I wonder if there was a history of rat-running i.e. cars queuing down Port Hill, nipping through the car park and out of Hartham Lane to avoid the queues. I can't think of any other sensible reason (although that obviously does not rule out a ridiculous one!)
Joby
Posts: 29
Joined: Tue 03 Dec, 2013 11:09 am
Hit the nail on the head Joby
Posts: 29
Joined: Tue 03 Dec, 2013 11:09 am
Statistics:Posted by Anorak — Wed 19 Mar, 2014 10:25 am
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good question buzz, never understood why the car park to port hill was blocked off?? there must be some history behind this?
I wonder if there was a history of rat-running i.e. cars queuing down Port Hill, nipping through the car park and out of Hartham Lane to avoid the queues. I can't think of any other sensible reason (although that obviously does not rule out a ridiculous one!)Statistics:Posted by Joby — Wed 19 Mar, 2014 9:58 am
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Thing is though, with the town full of traffic, why would anyone want to cycle amongst all that. It's bloody lethal. That's why you only see nobhead men under 50 like me out on bikes and not normal people such as women, children and the elderly. The only way of getting around this is to use the stick of removing cars from the town centre and the carrot of building proper Dutch style cycle and walking infrastructure that puts the most vulnerable of road users first.
Ha ha, a fellow MAMIL I see (although I'm not convinced I'm quite MA yet...) This is a chicken-and-egg situation...people won't switch cars for bikes until there is a perception of safety on the roads, but that perception of safety is not reached until you have a critical mass of cyclists on the roads. I'm not convinced that Dutch-style cycle infrastructure is the necessarily the answer (see Stevenage for an example of a town with a superb segregated cycle network that is virtually empty http://www.roadswerenotbuiltforcars.com/stevenage/). A change in motorist mentality is required to recognise cyclists as legitimate road users and not just obstacles in the way. All sensible suggestions for improving traffic flow, although nothing that would actually reduce the number of cars. So rather like loosening the belt to cure being fat. I think both aspects need to be tackled. The fact remains that there are just too many cars in town, whether they be parked on pavements and junctions or crawling through the congested streets.I may have mentioned this on the old forum, but I believe there are some measures that could be taken to alleviate some of the traffic problems in the town. Firstly, the cab rank outside The Woolpack could be moved to outside Deco's in Parliament Square and Red lines installed from the Old Cross traffic lights up to Parliament Square, which would include no parking/waiting for Blue Badge holders as well. At present, vehicles waiting at the lights to turn right to go to Bengeo conflict with buses and other large vehicles when there are cabs and Blue Badge holders (and people going to the chip shop etc) parked there. This causes a tailback with vehicles from St. Andrew Street blocking the lights. When the lights turn green for Bengeo bound traffic no-one can go anywhere. In addition, by placing the cab rank outside Deco's where there is a limited time parking bay at present, it would be better placed for evening revellers using The Blackbirds, Hertford House, etc, thus reducing the likelihood of disorder problems in the evenings. Secondly the parking bays in St Andrew Street opposite Beckwith's should be scrapped. It is the narrowest part of the street, and when vehicles are parked there, buses and other large vehicles cannot pass if there are vehicles coming in the opposite direction. No doubt the planners would argue this helps to slow traffic, but anyone who knows the area would know that is a nonsense. Another problem that needs to be addressed is the situation between the War Memorial and The Shire Hall. At present there are frequent 'Mexican stand-offs' between buses travelling towards the War Memorial and vehicles travelling from it. This often results in buses having to mount the pavement in order to pass, causing damage to the paving stones. This could be made a 'Buses Only' route in both directions with an execption for delivery vehicles going to Market Place. Initially this would have to be policed as people would be inclined to take a chance. As it is, I often see private cars and vans contravening the 'Buses only' restriction. At present, with all vehicles entering the town centre from the War Memorial we have the situation where there are more entry points into the town than exits. Finally, why not open up an exit route from Sainsbury's by allowing vehicles to pass through the Hartham Car park, over the bridge and onto Port Hill. None of the above measures would cost much to implement, and surely they must be worth a try.
Statistics:Posted by Joby — Wed 19 Mar, 2014 9:54 am
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