£12m scheme to tackle congestion is launched - but is it "tinkering at the edges?" (From Bournemouth Echo)
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£12m scheme to tackle congestion is launched - but is it "tinkering at the edges?"
12:51pm Monday 11th February 2013 in News By Andy Martin
A £12m plan to help ease chronic congestion in the conurbation has been launched.
The Three Towns Travel partnership between Bournemouth, Poole and Christchurch, includes new cycle routes, better public transport and traffic management and more information for people to plan their journeys.
It focuses on the "3 Towns Corridor" - the A35 - and will mean better street lights, improved junction priority for buses, upgraded bus shelters, linked cycle routes and removal or clarification for signs for pedestrians and public transport.
But local council chiefs have denied the project is merely “tinkering at the edges” of the area's huge traffic problems.
Cllr Michael Filer, Bournemouth's cabinet member for transportation told the Daily Echo: “This is not a second best option.
“The conurbation will have more houses, more jobs and more people over the next few years and we need to address the traffic implication with this long term plan to offer a more integrated local transport system.
He added: “We need a local network that is fit for purpose.”
The government money will be spent along the key east - west route which features some of the worst gridlock blackspots like Christchurch bypass, Barrack Road, Castle Lane and Wallisdown.
Cllr Filer said there was no money and no appetite for the big, proposed infrastructure schemes of the past, such as the Branksome and Wallisdown relief roads, both dropped 20 years ago.”
“These proposals are not the whole thing, they are just the start.”
He said the prime aim of Three Towns Travel was to support the economy by minimising congestion.
Cllr Peter Finney, Dorset's highways cabinet member representing Christchurch, said: “We are trying to open up lots more options for people to travel to work.
“If we don't do something, places like Wallisdown Road may well be impassable in 13 years time. We need to free up the roads.”
The chairman of Dorset's Local Enterprise Partnership, Gordon Page, said the estimated cost of congestion to Dorset's economy was around £300m a year. He described the figure as “intolerable” and the traffic congestion was “an insidious block to our progress.”
More substantial projects would need to be considered as part of the bigger picture.
Comments(33)
RivermeadMike
says...
1:18pm Mon 11 Feb 13
Seabeam
says...
1:36pm Mon 11 Feb 13
More cycle lanes are probably the best long term remedy, or maybe a land train with a seperated lane so that people could plan a day out or get to work without having it ruined by the jams.
Cycle lanes surely are the only way to go, every cyclist is one less car poluting as it sits motionless or crawls at a snails pace.
No other alternative is available to all for little cost at this time.
The Liberal
says...
1:53pm Mon 11 Feb 13
At the very least, it would stop the usual moaners on here complaining about illegal cycling on pavements! I expect that is what will follow here… yawn.
BmthNewshound
says...
2:01pm Mon 11 Feb 13
.
By the time the Councils have consulted the public, dealt with objections, paid consultants, I wonder how much of the £12m will actually be spent on the roads themselves.
.
BournemouthMatt
says...
2:08pm Mon 11 Feb 13
Holes Bay Curve
says...
2:10pm Mon 11 Feb 13
In 30 years time we need to have walking and cycling to work not only acceptable , but the norm. The motor car should be seen as a luxury, and long distance freight traffic moved back onto the railways to allow cheaper passenger rail fares for all - oh, and plane off the asphalt road surfaces to reveal the old tramways that connected Poole to Bournemouth.
whataboutthat
says...
2:13pm Mon 11 Feb 13
l'anglais
says...
2:23pm Mon 11 Feb 13
rayc
says...
3:01pm Mon 11 Feb 13
Holes Bay Curve wrote:In 30 years time people with work within a bus, bike or walking distance will be in the minority. Hospitals for example will become more and more remote from the population they serve.
'local council chiefs' simply do not have the long term vision.
In 30 years time we need to have walking and cycling to work not only acceptable , but the norm. The motor car should be seen as a luxury, and long distance freight traffic moved back onto the railways to allow cheaper passenger rail fares for all - oh, and plane off the asphalt road surfaces to reveal the old tramways that connected Poole to Bournemouth.
Having worked in the rail industry and taking into account the 20 years to build HS2, I think your wish to expand freight traffic will remain merely a wish.
When the car is a luxury what taxes will pay for schools, hospitals etc?
FNS-man
says...
4:17pm Mon 11 Feb 13
rayc wrote:The government acknowledges that it subsidises motorists by billions of pounds per year once you factor in the cost of congestion, accidents, pollution etc. If the private motor car was phased out the country would be, fiscally speaking, a lot better off.
Holes Bay Curve wrote: 'local council chiefs' simply do not have the long term vision. In 30 years time we need to have walking and cycling to work not only acceptable , but the norm. The motor car should be seen as a luxury, and long distance freight traffic moved back onto the railways to allow cheaper passenger rail fares for all - oh, and plane off the asphalt road surfaces to reveal the old tramways that connected Poole to Bournemouth.In 30 years time people with work within a bus, bike or walking distance will be in the minority. Hospitals for example will become more and more remote from the population they serve. Having worked in the rail industry and taking into account the 20 years to build HS2, I think your wish to expand freight traffic will remain merely a wish. When the car is a luxury what taxes will pay for schools, hospitals etc?
muscliffman
says...
4:21pm Mon 11 Feb 13
BmthNewshound wrote:Regretably you are right. Little of this £12million will get past the queue of Council and Consultant fat-cats that will be licking their lips at the thought of having a share of this sum.
Yes it will just be tinkering at the edges. If there Councils are ruling out major infrastructure projects the options are very limited and the benefit questionable.
.
By the time the Councils have consulted the public, dealt with objections, paid consultants, I wonder how much of the £12m will actually be spent on the roads themselves.
.
rayc
says...
4:37pm Mon 11 Feb 13
FNS-man wrote:"The government acknowledges that it subsidises motorists by billions of pounds per year once you factor in the cost of congestion, accidents, pollution etc".
rayc wrote:The government acknowledges that it subsidises motorists by billions of pounds per year once you factor in the cost of congestion, accidents, pollution etc. If the private motor car was phased out the country would be, fiscally speaking, a lot better off.
Holes Bay Curve wrote: 'local council chiefs' simply do not have the long term vision. In 30 years time we need to have walking and cycling to work not only acceptable , but the norm. The motor car should be seen as a luxury, and long distance freight traffic moved back onto the railways to allow cheaper passenger rail fares for all - oh, and plane off the asphalt road surfaces to reveal the old tramways that connected Poole to Bournemouth.In 30 years time people with work within a bus, bike or walking distance will be in the minority. Hospitals for example will become more and more remote from the population they serve. Having worked in the rail industry and taking into account the 20 years to build HS2, I think your wish to expand freight traffic will remain merely a wish. When the car is a luxury what taxes will pay for schools, hospitals etc?
Some of that factoring is is tenuous in the extreme. There are such things as the cost of 'inactivity, how you turn that into real money to pay for public transport will no doubt tax politicians for decades.
loftusrod
says...
4:42pm Mon 11 Feb 13
jeebuscripes wrote:Simply click where it says 'See the plan in full here'.
What are the details of the plan? What is the plan? This article lacks any real information.
Derf
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4:57pm Mon 11 Feb 13
bourne free
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5:07pm Mon 11 Feb 13
Supergiz
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5:07pm Mon 11 Feb 13
GAHmusic
says...
5:43pm Mon 11 Feb 13
bourne free
says...
6:06pm Mon 11 Feb 13
Supergiz wrote:put a road above the railway line ?
They had the chance to sort out the Poole to Bournemouth bit 20? years ago with the Bourne Bottom relief road system but it all turned into a fiasco. No point tinkering at the edges, a proper road system is required and the opportunity has now gone. As a Poole resident the last place I would ever want to drive to is Christchurch. It takes forever Its quicker and easier to go to Southampton.
corozin
says...
6:11pm Mon 11 Feb 13
There's congestion in the town. Seriously, how is carving out more cycle lanes ever going to fix that? Where are the legions of cyclists pounding up and down Penn Hill Avenue every day proving that demand exists for this stuff? The rest of it sounds like more money to the hands of "consultants" and printers on "advice"
What a shocking bloody waste of money. Bereft of real solutions this is just window dressing on the taxpayer to fund jobs for the boys.
Hessenford
says...
6:16pm Mon 11 Feb 13
Holes Bay Curve wrote:That would be nice but I think most of the tramways were ripped up years ago.
'local council chiefs' simply do not have the long term vision.
In 30 years time we need to have walking and cycling to work not only acceptable , but the norm. The motor car should be seen as a luxury, and long distance freight traffic moved back onto the railways to allow cheaper passenger rail fares for all - oh, and plane off the asphalt road surfaces to reveal the old tramways that connected Poole to Bournemouth.
BIGTONE
says...
6:35pm Mon 11 Feb 13
BournemouthMatt wrote:Agreed.
It sounds like we need a Monorail!!! It worked for Springfield...
Straight down the centre of wessex way.
At the back of the Royal Bournemouth to Christchurch.
Frizzels through Penn Hill railway embankment
Intersection stations at Cooper Dean/Springbourne/As
da/Richmond hill/Cambridge road/Frizzels.
Thats 90% of it sorted.
rayc
says...
7:28pm Mon 11 Feb 13
bournenbred
says...
8:53pm Mon 11 Feb 13
Private vehicles are going to be actively persecuted !
gileto
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9:29pm Mon 11 Feb 13
Hessenford
says...
9:50pm Mon 11 Feb 13
This must be the only town bypass which leads all the traffic into the town, great planning.
Omni314
says...
10:20pm Mon 11 Feb 13
bournenbred wrote:Not providing facilities for cars isn't persecution.
If you read the plan, you will see its not about the car, but public transport, cycling, walking and low carbon / electric vehicles.
Private vehicles are going to be actively persecuted !
Lord Spring
says...
8:27am Tue 12 Feb 13
Holes Bay Curve wrote:The tramways were all pulled up around 1947/8 I know as we were using the tarred wood blocks to keep warm.
'local council chiefs' simply do not have the long term vision.
In 30 years time we need to have walking and cycling to work not only acceptable , but the norm. The motor car should be seen as a luxury, and long distance freight traffic moved back onto the railways to allow cheaper passenger rail fares for all - oh, and plane off the asphalt road surfaces to reveal the old tramways that connected Poole to Bournemouth.
Lord Spring
says...
8:38am Tue 12 Feb 13
Lord Spring
says...
8:45am Tue 12 Feb 13
Hessenford wrote:Constructed 1958, and what is your plan for 55 years ahead.
Always makes me laugh when the Christchurch bypass is mentioned, what bypass is that then.
This must be the only town bypass which leads all the traffic into the town, great planning.
muscliffman
says...
11:00am Tue 12 Feb 13
Hessenford wrote:No, because in Bournemouth we also built a Town Centre 'Bypass', now it's called Wessex Way.
Always makes me laugh when the Christchurch bypass is mentioned, what bypass is that then.
This must be the only town bypass which leads all the traffic into the town, great planning.
This one not only leads straight to the Town Centre (!) as well, but also caused the destruction of the equivilant of a whole suburb on one side of Holdenhurst Road - and then never made it across Poole as was essentially planned.
On the subject of tram track - it was mostly lifted here, as said above, in the mid-late forties, although some does remain, notably in the Square. However the concept of running fixed track light railways down today's congested Bournemouth streets does not bear thinking about!
But never mind, I see we appear to already have had a nice jolly 'Launch do' with Council photo opportunities at the BIC for this new transport funding, so the spending starts on the usual unproductive fripperies.
rayc
says...
2:04pm Tue 12 Feb 13
FNS-man
says...
3:25pm Tue 12 Feb 13
corozin wrote:The point is that it is not safe for people to cycle on the roads. If you want to look at thousands and thousands of would-be cyclists, then just go to the gates of a school during the school run. In Holland the average age for a kid to ride to school on their own is 8. If all 8-year-olds rode to school the roads would be a huge amount quieter. I imagine you notice the effect during the school hols.
Another stunning example on how to waste £12m of taxpayers money on gesture politics. There's congestion in the town. Seriously, how is carving out more cycle lanes ever going to fix that? Where are the legions of cyclists pounding up and down Penn Hill Avenue every day proving that demand exists for this stuff? The rest of it sounds like more money to the hands of "consultants" and printers on "advice" What a shocking bloody waste of money. Bereft of real solutions this is just window dressing on the taxpayer to fund jobs for the boys.
But the current roads are simply not safe enough for a parent to consider letting their 8-year-old out on their own.
jeebuscripes says...
12:58pm Mon 11 Feb 13
What is the plan?
This article lacks any real information.