We had a fairly satisfactory meeting with Mr Steven Bird of the highways department. Mr Bird was kind enough to help put things into perspective. I have to spend some times with my Dictaphone but I promise to post a more thorough update soon.
Broadly Mr Bird conveyed the good news that there would be no speed sofas on Church Road and that we would be getting satellite controlled bus time information at our stops and via SMS on our phones!
Are these the sweeteners?
So far Mr Bird has been very kind and we applaud him. He has promised to communicate with me and I hope to receive a schedule of works and procedures soon.
So for the moment, it seems that our voices are being heard if we bother and we should stop whinging. All we need to do is enter the debate with our Mr Bird who says that his agenda is only the laudable one of encouraging environmentally friendly transport.
Makes me glad I didn't show him plan B, 'NO 24 Hour Bus Lane!'
Feel free to print our poster and display it if you live or work along the bus route or will be affected by the proposed alterations.
Let us talk of upgraded parking behind our high street and what this could mean for the improvement of our derelict lanes along this route and so on. Suggestions anyone?
Lets ask him for a tram! ;-)
UPDATE: 31st of October 2006
Have you got the hump? Residents of St. George West have, over the councils (increasingly sneaky looking) plans to impose unnecessary speed humps as part of the so called "showcase bus route", speed humps which mysteriously do not appear on their original plans but which are being advertised on your nearest lamppost!
Now, as we go to press, residents of QUEENS ROAD and THE AVENUE are worried that they will have a speed hump or humps imposed on them as part of speed restrictions resulting from the proposed alterations.
We say, "NO BUS LANE THROUGH ST.GEORGE!" Go into the advice shop on Church Rd opposite Tescos, tell the council what you think. Put up a "No 24 hr" or "No Peak Hr bus lane" poster in your window. Sign our petition in local shops or by sending your name and address to my e-mail (top right of this site). Come to the council house on Tuesday December 5th at 2pm to tell the councillors imposing this on us exactly how you feel. (Contact me and I will advise you how to do this.)
Update 14th of November 2006
Feel free to print out our petition and canvass for signatures. Please return any signatures before December the 5th
Hi, just bringing forward the previous points discussed and an update.
ReplyDeleteI am getting worried that our council officers are not being completely candid as I have not heard from them since the meeting so the poster campaign is full steam ahead.
Anyone with eyes and a map can see the main features and arteries of our area.
Church Road is our main artery. Our high road is as effective as it is going to be unless the properties on it are moved ten feet back. As that is not going to happen planting intermittent red strips with platforms designed to hold up the traffic merely so that the bus does not lose its place seems negative as well as foolish. It does not achieve anything. Better bus stop shelters and information would achieve something, people more inclined to use the service.
Unless we want a high street populated by charity shops and takeaways exclusively, we must stop the red strips from blighting Church Road.
There were plans to bring in a butcher, now I know of several shops who say that they are not intending to renew their leases and some actively selling up and a majority of the rest are just plain frightened about the future and of course there are the many who have parking outside their houses at the moment and who are to be displaced to the side streets.
There are many unhappy people and it is time for action.
Angelo
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LJCulley said...
one of my biggest concerns regarding the proposed changes is the impact on traffic using Beaufort Road. More restrictions (in the form of traffic lights,contraflows and speed tables) on Church Road - will inevitably lead to increased use of Beaufort road as a 'rat run'. Traffic is already at unacceptably high levels during commuter times between 7.30-9.00 and 4.00-6.30 - yet there are no plans in place to restrict usage by means of traffic calming. I know this from my enquiries to the relevant agencies at Bristol City Council !
Before any changes are made which will make residents more miserable because of increased levels of noise/pollution I think there should be wider public debate. I am in favour of better bus routes ( with affordable prices !!) and cycle lanes - providing planners take into account the impact on surrounding residential streets. I don't feel this has been sufficiently taken account of so far - so I hope others in the area take time to write to Bristol City Council expressing their concerns.
Thanks for giving the subject a forum.
9/19/2006 7:24 PM
Cllr Martin Kerry said...
We had part of the first "showcase bus route" up here in Horfield on the Gloucester Road.Residents and traders said they didn't want these short strips of dedicated bus lane outside nearby houses which would lose them their parking spaces, especially since some of them were disabled. Although the work on the rest of the route was well underway, we produced a petition,press publicity and protested to the council, which was then run by Labour with Helen Holland (Whitchurch Park) as their executive member with responsibility for transport issues.
Our efforts paid off because it was conceded that the sections of bus lane in question were not suitable, the area was more residential than business and several disabled people living there would be severely inconvenienced. So just to let you know its not too late to try and change their minds!
10/06/2006 7:05 PM
Adam Czarnowski said...
Angelo,
While I gather that work may be starting next week (!) the Cllr.'s email is well worth taking on board.
We need to co-ordinate a petition, press coverage but the idea of getting local residents to protest about losing parking spaces, especially disabled ones, is a very, very good one. From what the Cllr says, there are still things that can be done.
A