Swindon to get £150m to improve transport (From Swindon Advertiser)
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Swindon to get £150m to improve transport
2:40pm Sunday 15th February 2009 in News
SWINDON is set to receive a massive transport boost after £150m was allocated to improve transport throughout the town and beyond.
The South West Regional Assembly (SWRA) spent much of yesterday pondering how to divide up the cash around the region – finally agreeing the money should be split between three separate improvement phases.
Phase one will consist of £22m to improve and increase the town’s capacity for roundabouts, dual carriageways and lights.
Phase two will involve £111m and would be largely spent on the town’s rapid transit system – which would attempt to improve links from the proposed eastern expansion area to the town centre.
And phase three will consist of a further £20m to develop a second railway line from Swindon to Kemble, should a £1m feasibility study agree.
Mike Bawden, who is chairman of SWRA’S planning committee and also sitting as a member of the executive, said he was pleased with the outcome of the meetings.
He said: “This is a major allocation of funds and the opportunity to have a dual Kemble line which would be a major boost for Swindon. We are trying to reduce people’s travel times, this is a major opportunity to improve travel to work, shopping, leisure and to get people out of their cars and onto public transit. This project is very likely to run until 2019.”
Anyone interested in finding out more is asked to visit www.southwest-ra.gov.uk in a week’s time when the information will be uploaded.
Comments(17)
scottyincs
says...
3:43pm Sun 15 Feb 09
Captain T
says...
7:24pm Sun 15 Feb 09
Could that be new park & rides? Woops no, the council don't like those do they?
andytwo
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7:29pm Sun 15 Feb 09
faatmaan
says...
8:07pm Sun 15 Feb 09
Captain Sensible
says...
8:22pm Sun 15 Feb 09
mickdp
says...
10:17pm Sun 15 Feb 09
A good idea would be to sought out Bruce Street Bridges maybe into a One Way system going round thru each archway.
Swindon born n bred
says...
11:18pm Sun 15 Feb 09
Jean Saunders
says...
9:48am Mon 16 Feb 09
It will require considerable investment in transport infrastructure to integrate the area with Swindon. One obvious solution would be to establish a Parkway railway station next to the police station and add another track into Swindon. However the railway companies won't give their permission for this to happen.
The extent of the proposed eastern development is from Wanborough to north of the Oxford Road extending as far as Acorn Bridge.
A planning application is likely to be submitted later this year.
Robert Feal-Martinez
says...
9:56am Mon 16 Feb 09
Don't get me wrong, I agree they should, it has been a UKIP policy for several years, however what Cameron doesn't say of course is that firstly the RA's and RDA's shouldn't exist in the first place, as they were roundly voted down by the people in the North East, and secondly and more importantly they are a product of the EU who will not let the abolition take place, without us of course leaving the EU.
As for the money, like all things HMG this is just one more promise. If the money ever materialises then I'm sure all will welcome it, but I for one won't be holding my breath.
Home Boy
says...
10:02am Mon 16 Feb 09
Swindon born n bred wrote:And they could use the money to fund little 50mph signs all the way along Thamesdown Drive, sort out the sequences on the signals to give priority to the main route and remove a few of the needless signals and replace them with standard roundabouts. That road frustrates me and I don't even live up there!
Perhaps they will use some to sort out the lane madness that is evident at almost every junction along Thamesdown Drive. No mention of linking Thamesdown Drive with great Western Way - a proper northern distributor road should be seen as a priority. Oh, i forgot, this town hates the very vehicle that saved it after the demise of the railway industry
After that they could remove these stupid third filter lanes that seem to be appearing everwhere. How many accidents has the one outside The Hilton now caused? I'm sure most of them were attributed to speeding in the official statistics!
Home Boy
says...
10:06am Mon 16 Feb 09
Jean Saunders wrote:And where would this extra track into town go? Should the Council look to use their compulsory purchase powers to demolish every proprety along the route of the existing track in order to lay a new track alongside it?
The Eastern development area proposes a new settlement for 12,000 houses.
It will require considerable investment in transport infrastructure to integrate the area with Swindon. One obvious solution would be to establish a Parkway railway station next to the police station and add another track into Swindon. However the railway companies won't give their permission for this to happen.
The extent of the proposed eastern development is from Wanborough to north of the Oxford Road extending as far as Acorn Bridge.
A planning application is likely to be submitted later this year.
Jean Saunders
says...
12:09pm Mon 16 Feb 09
Home Boy wrote:Surely, the track only needs to be long enough to allow for a siding to let fast trains through at South Marston? However, if all the trains stopped at a Parkway station, even this wouldn't be necessary.
Swindon born n bred wrote: Perhaps they will use some to sort out the lane madness that is evident at almost every junction along Thamesdown Drive. No mention of linking Thamesdown Drive with great Western Way - a proper northern distributor road should be seen as a priority. Oh, i forgot, this town hates the very vehicle that saved it after the demise of the railway industryAnd they could use the money to fund little 50mph signs all the way along Thamesdown Drive, sort out the sequences on the signals to give priority to the main route and remove a few of the needless signals and replace them with standard roundabouts. That road frustrates me and I don't even live up there! After that they could remove these stupid third filter lanes that seem to be appearing everwhere. How many accidents has the one outside The Hilton now caused? I'm sure most of them were attributed to speeding in the official statistics!
Jean Saunders
says...
12:13pm Mon 16 Feb 09
"And where would this extra track into town go? Should the Council look to use their compulsory purchase powers to demolish every proprety along the route of the existing track in order to lay a new track alongside it?"
Mick12
says...
1:09pm Mon 16 Feb 09
Why on earth should it cost £1m, its either needed or not, job done.
I Too
says...
8:51pm Mon 16 Feb 09
Mick12 wrote:Chances are, the council will spend a large proportion, of the £150m (if not all of it), on so called feasability studies.
A second line from Swindon to Kemble if a £1 million fesability study agrees. Why on earth should it cost £1m, its either needed or not, job done.
itsamess
says...
7:02am Tue 17 Feb 09
IRofE
says...
9:34am Tue 17 Feb 09
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