City traffic planning has gone badly wrong
It seems that barely a week goes by without a Bath citizen writing to the Chronicle reporting another traffic experiment that has not worked. Most of your readers' reports seem well founded. Bath traffic plans often seem to produce potentially dangerous situations, or cause further congestion points in an already congested city.
But why does this constantly happen? Proper traffic planning requires several things.
First, a clear understanding of the interface of roadways, traffic flow and vehicle and pedestrian safety. Second, it requires adequate data about traffic and pedestrian flows over a period of time. Finally, it requires the technical know-how and experience to make sense of this data and to model it effectively.
Something is clearly going drastically wrong with the traffic planning process in Bath.
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Is it that the council does not have the right expertise at its disposal?
Or are councillors with little understanding of the technical aspects of these matters pressurising officials? I think that we need some investigation, perhaps by the Chronicle, of these questions. And the problems are pressing. We are promised even more radical traffic experiments, meanwhile the results of previous attempts in Dorchester Street and the 'coach experiment' in Orange Grove provide us with a daily reminder that whoever plans these things does not seem to know what they are doing.
And finally a comment on one aspect of the latest plan. Do we really want to live in a town where the police station is not accessible in an emergency by a private vehicle?
Or where the Post Office sorting depot holding our bulky parcels cannot be accessed by car? Or, almost unbelievably, where it is not possible either to deliver or collect passengers to the railway station by private car?
PROFESSOR IAN JAMIESON Summer Lane Combe Down Bath
Comments
by a1rhellair
Sunday, September 09 2012, 11:13AM
“Strange that Ian Jamieson criticises bath's traffic planning when he should be used to planning disasters at failure-rewarding bath university. During his time there, use of cars grew so much that those using public transport had to face long delays daily while buses tried to leave the campus at day's end. They had to queue behind predominantly singly-occupied cars of 90 per cent of staff who drove to work. At other enlightened universities, such as UWE, road space available for cars is narrowed to one lane, leaving easy access for buses arriving at and leaving the campus.
As for ".... Do we really want to live in a town where the police station is not accessible in an emergency by a private vehicle?", what a load of nonsense. In an emergency, I'm sure the police wouldn't prosecute for you using your car to get to the police station. More than likely, you will probably phone them. Likewise, access will be permitted to the sorting office.
As for the rail station, there's plenty of parking in nearby southgate. Many rail stations don't have parking in front. For example, at Bristol Parkway, the only vehicles allowed on the station forecourt are buses and taxis. In the 20 years I've been using this station, I have never encountered any problems. I'm sure that if mobility issues requires you to park close to bath's station, that will be allowed.”
by aurea_flamma
Wednesday, September 05 2012, 5:21PM
“Well said Sir!”