“Victor - you are right about the HGV impact on the centre. But there's no reason to accept this is the result of the A4 bypass as the problem existed long before it came into use.”

“No, the lorries simply clog up London Rd and Bathwick St. Quite commonly the resulting tailbacks from London Rd reach Queen Square so there is an impact on the central part of the city.”

“Victor - I don't think your comment is entirely truthful. Before the Batheaston Bypass was opened HGV traffic had little alternative when travelling North to South (or vice versa) that to use the A36 - A46 route. This still applies today and, as has always been the case, very little of it enters the 'inner city'.”

“Christine, yours is a very good question. Good luck with getting a respectful answer.

Bath is a very small city restricted by its terrain - so traffic and the business it brings has nowhere else to go (except Bristol or Swindon).

When looked at closely, the strategy reveals longer-term options for congestion charges, reduced access for those not on foot or bicycles, and increased parking restrictions for residents which will, of course, bring even more chaos to roads surrounding the city centre.

Facing similar questions the likes of Cllrs Gazzard, Gerrish and Haeberling and others promoting the Public Realm "vision" have given answers that the centre must be improved and in the process the outskirts of the city will have to suffer as a result. It's an opinion on which they've already spent considerable resources in attempting to establish it as an apparent fact.

In other words, and because the Public Realm apparently ends somewhere near Lansdown Crescent, those not living in the centre are unimportant and can rot!”

“The lorry problem dates from the construction of the Batheaston bypass, which made Bath a much more attractive through route for lorries which would formerly have used the motorway. But this consequence wasn't anticipated when the bypass was constructed.”

“Where will the traffic go then? If moved from one place it has to go somewhere else and it is already very heavy on Lansdown Road.”

“Mike is right - it's not just the HGVs - a friend told me of a delivery driver that was delivering to the Firehouse Rotisserie and was blocking the road and actually called the police to complain that she was being harrassed by the driver using his horn!”

“As a bus driver, I occasionally travel through Bath and have every sympathy with those who need to rid Bath of its HGV menace. Travelling along Dartmouth Avenue (cars parked both sides 24/7) I was disappointed to see a foreign articulated lorry heading towards me. How he had got there was no mystery - probably following his sat-nav - but how he escaped without destroying his lorry and a couple of dozen cars is beyond understanding.
As far as Queen's Square goes, I travelled through it daily for two weeks recently and had no problems - even in rush hour. The problems started in Milsom Street with delivery lorries and cars that simply should not have been there - especially as they were using the bus gate.
Get rid of the lorries and the problem will become manageable.”

“There's no proposal to close Queen Square. The suggestion is to remove it "from parts of Queen Square", most likely the east and south sides, if not the west.”

“Is this another case of the lunatics running the asylum.
Queen square is a major east west route through bath. If they stop the traffic going through there, how will it get from the east to the west. The lower bristol road and widcome is already at a standstill during the rush hour.
Traffic flow could be improved in that area if they removed the traffic lights in queen sqare. They have done more to encourage congestion than any other traffic planning decision in many a year.
It's time that all this pedestrianisation and global warming nonsense was discouraged. .”