Changes to Cheltenham one-way system backed
SWEEPING plans to overhaul Cheltenham's town centre traffic system have provoked a new debate for residents.
An array of potential changes, revealed on Saturday, could dramatically change the way motorists travel through the town.
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Shared space vision for Cheltenham town centre
People attended a meeting on Saturday at the Municipal Offices, to hear the plans for themselves, and to have their say on the issue.
And they were united on one thing – doing nothing to address the town's traffic woes was simply not an option.
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Shared
The scheme includes transforming Boots' corner into a 1,000sqm shared space for pedestrians and buses – with other traffic directed away from the area.
It could also see two-way traffic restored to a number of roads, including the one in front of the Town Hall, in a bid to decrease congestion and stop vehicles getting stuck on the one-way system.
Graham Ricketts, speaking in the Q&A session, said: "We should be looking at towns in Europe which have been successful at getting this kind of thing right.
"I'm not sure there are any towns in the UK that have managed that up to now.
"If these changes were to go ahead, signposting in Cheltenham would need to be much more effective – telling people where they are going and how long it is going to take them."
Paul Griffiths added: "I haven't heard anything about using the park and ride to keep vehicles out of the town centre. Surely that must be looked at."
Another member of the audience added: "I cycle through parts of Cheltenham.
"What would the impact be for cyclists."
Jeremy Williamson, managing director of the Cheltenham Development Taskforce and Chris Riley, of Gloucestershire Highways, were on hand to explain their vision for the future.
The volume of traffic flowing through Cheltenham is projected to increase by anywhere between 34 and 55 per cent between now and 2035.
Mayor councillor Colin Hay, who chaired the meeting, said changes as drastic as those being proposed were bound to provoke come criticism.
"We've just got to look at what works and what doesn't work," he said.
"In order for the town to stay alive and keep thriving in future it has to change."
The scheme would be subject to a detailed consultation before it could become a reality.
And Mr Williamson, speaking afterwards, urged people to join in the debate.
"Cheltenham is at a crossroads," he said.
"These plans could really shape the future of the town so we want people to tell us what they think."
Comments
by safeandnice
Monday, September 10 2012, 3:19PM
“Junction alterations
http://tinyurl.com/c6u5dk3
Why not reverse Albion strret to make a loop with Fairview Road
null
Or use Royal Well a bus station keeping buses out of the pedestrian areas?”
by Matt1006
Monday, September 10 2012, 2:58PM
“A thought on the "shared space" for pedestrians & buses: Within days of the refurbished Lower High Street opening a few years ago (the re-paved section, immediately after the infamous rising bollard) there was a trail of fluid spots on the paviors. The vast majority of this must have been dropped by the buses (as they make up vast majority of traffic that can use this stretch of road).
It's not droplets of condensate from air-conditioning systems being dropped, it's mechanical fluids. So, not only does it look a mess (especially when the paviors were first laid, and were still clean), but what does it say about the mechanical state of the buses themselves??? Why is so much fluid being dropped - is this normal for a bus, because it certainly isn't the norm on a car?
IF the shared areas around the revised Boots Corner goes ahead, what odds on the new road surfaces rapidly ending up in the same state? And this will be before the eventual (inevitable) utility works, with paviors replaced by tarmac patches. Perhaps being a high-profile project, Gloucestershire Highways will be on top of this, but I wouldn't bet on it.”
by Ms_Superstar
Monday, September 10 2012, 1:36PM
“When the plans to close Royal Well, Clarence Street and North Street (I refuse to call it Boots Corner) were first announced, supporters said people would find their own alternative route.
Well, judging from this latest piece of lunacy, it appears they can't - not without major changes to Cheltenham's road system. This is a bit more than just closing a few roads - all of the signage and traffic signals on the proposed routes would have to be made dual-aspect instead of single aspect, many junction layouts would have to be redesigned, the original £5million for closing the aforementioned roads would pale into insignificance against this.
And let's not forget the present and planned commercial interests of the town. Closing North Street to private motor vehicles but still allowing public transport and bicycles would not make Cheltenham any more pedestrian friendly, and will not attract any more shoppers to the lower part of the High Street. Just last week, there was an article about the empty garage site, and an effort to tempt developers to build residential and commercial property there. The article mentioned a disconnect between the town centre and this area. Making Albion Street two-way would only serve to reinforce this disconnect. Fairview Road/StMargaret's Terrace/Swindon Road is two-way, and just look at how snarled-up that gets.
Making part of Albion Street pedestrianised, and building a footbridge across Swindon Road to the new North Place development (there is plenty of land available for this), would make far more sense than closing half the ring road. CBC is well on its way to 'killing the golden goose' that is the night-time economy; now it seems hell-bent on doing the same to the daytime economy.
One consolation - none of this is likely to happen in our lifetime...”
by Fat_Sam
Monday, September 10 2012, 1:27PM
“Come on, you hardly believe the journos at the local rag to do a bit of investigative work do ya?!
Plans are on the CBC website - http://tinyurl.com/c2ny5we”
by Matt1006
Monday, September 10 2012, 1:08PM
“So where can we view the detailed maps showing the re-designed road network around the town centre? So that we can play spot-the-mistake which will lead to utter traffic chaos, if allowed to be implemented...??? Cynical? Yep. We've seen plenty of ill-conceived roads projects over the years, and the potential implications for this one, if not done well, are horrendous.
And if they have actually thought the revised traffic flows out, and they will work, how long will it take to implement the road changes required (i.e. altering junctions / traffic lights / road markings etc), and how much disruption will the works cause whilst they're being completed? Including allowing for disruptions as un-charted utility lines are repaired?
This has been talked about on & off for many years - you would like to hope that if it does ever happen, it will have been very carefully thought about, and will be completed properly at the first time of asking. Or is that just too much to hope...???”
by safeandnice
Monday, September 10 2012, 9:58AM
“Anyone found more info than the flythrough halfway down the page
http://tinyurl.com/8vf6elq
No traffic and no shoppers, only some people milling about amongst concrete balls”