Sean ,
I agree the permeability of the zone is absurd.
West Street cant be compared with Dean Lane.
Were this a conservation area, and I'd say much more of it should be a
conservation area than already is, (wouldn't you??) ,
I would say the huge number of signs needed to make any of this enforceable
would harm the character of the conservation area and not enhance it.
To take a very small sector, the inclusion of Coronation Road (West one way
up hill section) , along with Greenway Bush Lane and the linking segment of
North St (if you like a Monaco grand prix loop around Ashton Gate Primary
school at 30 mph) will take about fifteen signage sets, ie sixty speed
plates on pairs of poles. I've got better things to do with the weekend than
calculate the required number of signs for the whole district. But its
several hundreds! (excluding repeaters!)
In addition I cant reconcile this idea with the "Roads Excluded" blurb
selling the scheme on the council website ..."Research and guidance from the
Department for Transport states that 20mph speed limits without traffic
calming are successful on roads which have an existing average vehicle speed
of 24mph or under. There are major traffic routes, such as A and B class
roads that pass through the pilot areas, which have traffic speeds in excess
of this. These have been excluded, as this should encourage through traffic
to use them as opposed to travelling through the main residential areas on
less suitable roads"
This would appear to suggest Greenway Bush Lane is an A or B class road,
which most of us don't agree with, but in practice the city appears to allow
it to be so, given the daily saturation of Winterstoke Road, even without
any new supermarkets....
Naturally Ashton Road MUST be a 30 mph because otherwise shoppers will be
impeded from hurtling down North St to Tesco's Northern in-road for a packet
of fags, and then England won't win the World Cup!
(They'll need to bomb-along back up A-class Smyth Road after that of course
because all the exits are onto free-flowing Winterstoke)
Never mind the Ashton Park School kids ambling out of the sweet shops into
the park on Ashton Road, their parents should be buying them sweets at the
Covered Tesco petrol station and not leaving them to roam the streets
like....children.
Oops, touch of irony creeping into cogent argument here. I must be falling
for the propaganda.
One other issue which I think will infuriate motorists , who really do have
something at stake here financially, is that the cyclists will break the
speed limit. I can certainly puff along at over 20 on my mountain bike, and
tailgating traditional-racing bike owners safely in a different lane (!)
along Hotwell road say, indicates they are easily doing 28-29 on the flat
without over exerting themselves! Greater speeds are possible!
By the way I note the Tesco traffic report wins road space for new customers
by putting cyclists on the pavement in Winterstoke Road. That should cause
apoplexy to the Evening Post pedestrian letter writing lobby! But it will be
all right as England will surely win that longed for cup. And cyclists have
this irritating habit of using the roads as well I've noticed, thus robbing
them of capacity. Back to gridlock then (bah!) and the attractions of rat
running the back streets instead.
Well you did say you'd be grateful for any comments,
and while some of these are light hearted the subjects are serious.
and yes the scheme is Cobblers, without intending to be.
Because it fails to meet its own objectives at all the most critical points
which must include the schools and parks, and it doesn't include all the
places where the accidents happen as well??
Because it will be ridiculously unsightly and confusing
And because enforcement will inevitably not be even handed.
Good idea, heading rapidly toward crap execution.
Happy Bank Holiday to all ,
Stephen
:~)
Rest of post
----- Original Message -----
From: <<email obscured>>
To: <bemmy-forum@forums.e-democracy.org>
Sent: Friday, August 28, 2009 6:15 PM
Subject: [GB-Forum] 20 mph
> As people might know, the Council is pushing ahead with proposals for
> 20mph zones in Bristol. This is good news, and even etter is that our
> part of town has been chosen for one of the pilot areas. There's more
> information here - www.bristol.gov.uk/20mph and I've attached a map of the
> boundaries.
>
> One worry is the list of excluded roads. Now, the Council says that
> they're excluding the busier roads because traffic calming measures would
> be needed to effectively slow the traffic down. I guess whether or not
> you agree with that is a moot point - I'd point out though that all of
> these busy roads are actually residential streets too.
>
> But what strikes me most is that so many of the roads that will remain
> 30mph are so near schools. Roads near Ashton Gate, Holy Cross, Parson
> Street, Luckwell and Victoria Park are all either excluded or located just
> outside the pilot zone. It seems peculiar to push ahead with this very
> positive measure but, by accident rather than design, to leave many of the
> roads near or on primary schools out of the picture.
>
> The Council are asking for comments efore they go out to statutory
> consultation. You can do so by:
>
> Write to: 20MPH (WH), FREEPOST BS 6529, BRISTOL, BS1 5BR
> Telephone: 0117 903 6282
> Email: 20mph at bristol.gov.uk
>
> Or let me know and I'll pass comments on.
>
> Grateful for any comments
> Sean.
> Sean Beynon
>
> Info about Sean Beynon: http://forums.e-democracy.org/p/seanbeynon
>
> View all messages on this topic at:
> http://forums.e-democracy.org/r/topic/4QVcWyeElkjVS5Tr85UhmV
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