Bid to keep the traffic moving (From Swindon Advertiser)
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Council wants more people to use public transport
12:00pm Wednesday 26th August 2009 in News
The challenge for council is to keep traffic moving in Swindon
TRAMS, 20mph zones and cycle paths could be at the heart of changes to Swindon’s transport network over the next two decades.
Swindon Council has bid for £100m of Government funding to improve key routes and enhance the town’s public transport network.
Other plans include re-introducing park and ride sites, building a new bus station and siting car parks outside the town centre to encourage people to use public transport.
The vision of transport in 2026 is included within the council’s draft core strategy – a plan to cope with the 35,000 new homes the Government has earmarked for Swindon over the next 20 years.
David Potter, Swindon Council’s director of planning and transport, said the key to the plan was to give people more reasons to use public transport.
He said: “At the moment our bus service targets those people who are most in need or don’t have a choice.
“What we need to do is target those people who do have a choice and get them out of their cars.
“We can’t force anyone to give up their car but we can make public transport an attractive alternative.”
The draft core strategy outlines the council’s plans to create rapid transit networks – key routes into the town from existing and new developments.
Mr Potter said: “These routes could be utilised for a tram route but in the meantime would probably be used for high speed buses.”
Schemes for cyclists and walkers will also be a priority for the future, including efforts to make routes to school safer.
Several projects are already being trialled around the town, including 20mph zones and prohibiting parking around schools.
There are also plans to limit speeds to 20mph in more residential areas, although not necessarily through enforced speed limits.
Mr Potter said: “It can be more effective to change the layout of the road or introduce chicanes rather than putting up signs.”
Missing links in the town’s cycle network will also be completed.
“If we are really serious about people using their bikes to go to work then we need priority routes,” said Mr Potter.
“That could mean cycle lanes in the road.”
The council will also continue to lobby for improvements to Swindon’s rail network, according to Mr Potter – including calling for an increase in the capacity on the mainline from London.
A public exhibition to gauge reactions to the draft core strategy will be held tomorrow from noon to 6pm at North Swindon Library and at the same time and location on Friday. Further meetings will be held over the next two weeks in Covingham, Highworth and the Brunel Centre.
Comments(15)
Janais is back
says...
1:36pm Wed 26 Aug 09
How many times do these Swindon Leaders have to be told to start from a blank piece of paper - and don't rely on P{ark n Rides - they don't work because people want flkexible transport.
itsamess
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1:43pm Wed 26 Aug 09
PK
says...
2:03pm Wed 26 Aug 09
TSK
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2:20pm Wed 26 Aug 09
Why do you say it's a recipie for accidents? Studies (TfL, LCC, CTC) suggest that where well planned and maintained cycle lanes in the road are installed, the number of accidents declines.
Fewer roundabouts would be a benefit as well. Despite their proliferation here, drivers seem disturbingly incapable of using them properly.
swindonistani
says...
2:23pm Wed 26 Aug 09
banning cars from town centre! how about the residents? Oh I see, the council plan is to make car parking impossible for residents, double yellow lines everysingle streets etc... and force everyone to pay the town bus operator a yearly fee to be able to get to work and back!
Thats not a transportation plan, this is BLACKMAIL pure and simple
To the leader of the cockroaches: WHY DONT YOU LISTEN TO US?
localgirl80
says...
2:29pm Wed 26 Aug 09
And I dont believe in studies.
LOL - great SW - only-road !!!
Robh
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4:09pm Wed 26 Aug 09
When the Northern Orbital road was built it had roundabouts, not these silly little white blobs in the road but real ones. Now a trip along this road is stop start at all the traffic lights. The other day I went from Oakhurst to Grounwell. Of the 11 sets of lights nine were on red. It should be common knowledge that cars produce more CO2 in stop start conditions than at constant speed. If we had the old roundabouts I doubt if I would have had to stop at all.
Moonrakers is something they have never dealt with. The cross town traffic causes traffic jams on the main Cricklade road. In Birmingham the main routes into and out of town have priority even at roundabouts where traffic on the roundabout has to give way to the main flow. I'm sure that many drivers use Whitworth road and Beechcroft avenue to bypass the Cricklade road traffic jams which then gets a lot worse.
You will not get people out of their cars so accept it and have traffic management that actually manages the traffic not panders to the goodlife minority.
stoned
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4:36pm Wed 26 Aug 09
bilzinusa
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6:59pm Wed 26 Aug 09
The chief executive of Swindon's urban regeneration company is stepping down after nearly four years in the post.
C'mon Davey boy....give us the whole story and the chance to comment !
Purlieu
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9:29pm Wed 26 Aug 09
itsamess
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9:44pm Wed 26 Aug 09
Oh come on now that family came under a barrage of totally unjustified abuse by posters--they had no choice
Synergie
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12:13am Thu 27 Aug 09
Before they carried out engineering work on that old tip there was a good smooth hardpack surface that was safe to ride on....even when wet. The damage done to that route during the drainage work has been repaired with ROAD PLANINGS!!....The worst possible material to use. You can roll it till the cows come but it will never bind together like scalpins which is the correct material to use for rural cycle routes. It's like trying to ride through a bed of marbles and will almost certainly result in damage to either rider or machine.
Here in Swindon, we currently have several initiatives running to encourage people to use bicycles more for short journeys, but, unless they are prepared to pay a little more than lip-service to the success of those initiatives they will not succeed. If this penny-pinching is an example of life under a Tory goverment then SBC have just cost my vote for "Dave".
Before the anti-cyclists brigade wade in with their comments, I do own a car and therefore pay road tax, but I much prefer to ride a bike for enjoyment and maintaining fitness in my old age.
cannycat
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8:52am Thu 27 Aug 09
Home Boy
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10:48am Thu 27 Aug 09
cannycat wrote:I think you've hit the nail on the head. I work 5 miles across town from my house. I currently have three options to get to work:
If the buses didn't take an hour (with an obligatory bus-change in the middle) to do a journey that takes just ten minutes in a car, maybe more people would use them??
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1. 20 minute bike ride, negotiating the town centre's one-way system and Ocotal Way. This generally results in three or four close encounters of the bus variety.
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2. Walk for 15 minutes into town and then pay £1.70 for the pleasure of standing up for another 20 minutes on a bus.
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3. Jump in my car and drive there in 15 minutes at a fuel cost of approximately 50p.
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I would love to be able to cycle to work every day but the complete lack of off-street cycle routes through the town centre makes it far too dangerous. There's a big pedestrianised area in the centre of town with no-one in it at 8am, why can't cyclists ride through there without risking a fixed penalty notice of some description?
localgirl80 says...
1:13pm Wed 26 Aug 09
“That could mean cycle lanes in the road.”
Cycle lanes "IN" the road - you gotta be joking me. That is just a recipe for accidents !!