Bus lane roadworks start before public gets a say
Council officers have apologised after jumping the gun on a controversial bus lane in Bath.
Roadworks which were started by mistake before people living nearby had been given a chance to comment on the plans have now been suspended at Wellsway.
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Workmen started digging up part of the A367 road for a proposed bus lane and new signalling system near its junction with Hatfield Road last month.
Residents who had known the scheme was in the offing had expressed concern and been promised that no work would begin before a formal consultation process had been completed.
Emily Massey, who has recently moved into the area, said although work had now been halted, a considerable amount had been done.
She said: "They have indeed stopped work, but not before they had completed moving the central reservation and installing an island.
"They have also introduced double yellows along approximately half of the southbound carriageway."
Mrs Massey is convinced the scheme will go ahead in its entirety.
She said: "Once the bus lane is introduced we will lose all of the parking on the northbound carriageway."
Mrs Massey said the situation would be aggravated by the completion of work on four new homes – where council planners rejected the idea of integral garages because they had said there was "ample" kerbside parking.
She added: "So, we lose 75 per cent of our parking space, and get more cars, a new queue into Bath for no apparent reason, another set of ugly traffic lights and the taxpayer gets the bill for 100 metres of totally ineffective bus lane, so that all the traffic can join the next queue at Bear Flat. It's absolutely pointless meddling and incredibly maddening."
A spokeswoman for Bath and North East Somerset Council apologised for the error and said a new traffic regulation order had been made allowing people to give their opinions about the plans from today to August 19.
She said: "We can confirm that work began on the Wellsway bus lane before the formal consultation period ended – this was the result of an administrative error on the part of the council and we apologise for this.
"The consultation now under way is the formal process to ensure that the orders needed for the new layout are legal and enforceable, and follows extensive consultation with local residents which has been ongoing since 2008.
"The proposed layout has been developed as a result of comments from local residents during that period.
"Work has now stopped and no further work will take place until the statutory consultation process ends when we will address any objections received.
"We are now reviewing our internal procedures to ensure this doesn't happen again."
22 Comments
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by Stevo, Bath
Tuesday, August 03 2010, 8:41PM
“Hear hear
The Chron is a good local paper but simply doesn't have the resources to carry out the sort of investigative journalism that would have had Francine Haeberling and her Tory chums penning their letters of resignation...”
by D Wheeler, Bath
Monday, August 02 2010, 9:42AM
“How disheartening to see that not only were the council dishonest in attempting to convince there was an error when it's obvious there's been significantly more than one, but that the original story has been re-written and softened with a new emphasis on people's opinions now being sought on the matter before August 19th.
Why is this so? It gives an impression that the council's press officers and not Chronicle staff are at least doing the final edits if not writing the whole stories.
Despite the headline I see no sincere apology here. Only an admission that something has been done wrongly, others are now expected to put it right and those who have incompetently created the extra work/expense will not be held responsible for the errors.
As an apology it might as well say: "someone's responsible but we won't tell you who and they won't be held in any way accountable." It doesn't inspire any confidence.”
by Geoff, Chichester
Friday, July 30 2010, 6:30PM
“May I tentatively raise another very minor question outside the main issue. I see in the photo what is clearly a length of tram line exposed to view. In January 1940, some months after the trams had been replaced, we moved to a house on North Road, Combe Down, near the Rainbow Wood tram terminus. I clearly remember that the road had been newly resurfaced, and at no time afterward was any attempt made to recover any buried track. Can anyone remember if the track was lifted before the road was resurfaced? If it wasn't then it is more than likely that the track on the Combe Down route is still in situ buried under the road surface between Bear Flat and Rainbow Wood.
Can anyone throw any light on this?”
by D Wheeler, Bath
Friday, July 30 2010, 2:14PM
“The contention that it was simply 'the result of an administrative error' can't possibly be true as it fails to stand up to any scrutiny.
If a fault in administration, as has been claimed, then it could have been rectified by clerical officers checking against authorisations. If this step was not implemented, authorisations should have been checked when allocating tasks to those working on site. If not then, workmen should have checked their instructions against written planning approvals to carry them out.
Therefore, in the absence of honesty and in squandering the opportunity given here to describe the cause of 'the mistake', what can possibly be trustworthy in the council saying: " Residents... had expressed concern and been promised that no work would begin before a formal consultation process had been completed... no further work will take place until the statutory consultation process ends..." and "We are now reviewing our internal procedures to ensure this doesn't happen again."?
The incumbents are in danger of being recorded for posterity as the worst council ever to sit in Bath. With such obvious contempt for the electorate they should not be barred from public office, if not with immediate effect at least after next year's local elections.”
by D Wheeler, Bath
Friday, July 30 2010, 2:12PM
“The contention that it was simply 'the result of an administrative error' can't possibly be true as it fails to stand up to any scrutiny.
If a fault in administration, as has been claimed, then it could have been rectified by clerical officers checking against authorisations. If this step was not implemented, authorisations should have been checked when allocating tasks to those working on site. If not then, workmen should have checked their instructions against written planning approvals to carry them out.
Therefore, in the absence of honesty and in squandering the opportunity given here to describe the cause of 'the mistake', what can possibly be trustworthy in the council saying: " Residents... had expressed concern and been promised that no work would begin before a formal consultation process had been completed... no further work will take place until the statutory consultation process ends..." and "We are now reviewing our internal procedures to ensure this doesn't happen again."?
The incumbents are in danger of being recorded for posterity as the worst council ever to sit in Bath. With such obvious contempt for the electorate they should not be barred from public office, if not with immediate effect at least after next year's local elections.”
by JM, Bath
Friday, July 30 2010, 1:04PM
“Started by mistake??!!!???
Doesn't this just show the determination of this council to push ahead regardless of public opinion? Surely someone must have noticed they were doing it? What next.........closing Culverhay "by mistake"? Sack the lot of them!”
by paul, Odd Down, Bath
Thursday, July 29 2010, 8:54PM
“The only reason that BANES are conducting these pointless "road and traffic improvements" in the South of Bath is because alot of people complained about not getting a fair share of the BRT £60 million.
By doing these useless road works it gives BANES further justification for spending £60 million on a park & ride and bus lane in the east of Bath that no-one really wants.
It's all cloak and dagger again I am afraid...”
by Stevo, Bath
Thursday, July 29 2010, 8:23PM
“Stand down Haeberling!”
by jeff, Radstock
Thursday, July 29 2010, 5:42PM
“The clue to the resolution of the bus lane problems is clearly shown in the centre of the picture- the council have started relaying the tram lines!”
by jeff, Radstock
Thursday, July 29 2010, 5:39PM
“The clue to the resolution of bus lane problems etc is clearly shown in the picture- bring back the trams!”