Tenbury has waited a very long time for a make over. Improvements to the road surface and the pavements have been discussed in various forums for years. Unknown to most, battles have been going on behind the scenes to get the approval for the use of good quality materials, rather than using quick fix concrete.
So now finally, after many broken promises and force starts, the basic design information is in the public domain.
I have no knowledge of town planning or traffic calming and control, so it is difficult to argue from a position of knowledge, and all we can really do is put trust in those employed as experts.
From a layman's point of view, any scheme that reduces parking, and mixes vehicles and people doesn't feel right, and I do worry that if the graphic artist thinks Tenbury is served by London Black Cabs, how good was the brief!
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16 comments:
One thing that cought me out when I looked at the brochure, was that the colour of the shared space is not as shown in the picture... who knows what material/colour it will be?
Not sure how suitable Tenbury is for shared space, it does get quite busy! But on the other hand, it would be nice to give a bit more priority to pedestrians.
I'm surprised they have put road markings at the kyre bridge junction - some towns are doing awsy with road markings.
Why put the bus stops in Teme Street using valuable parking spaces ?
Where would you put the Bus Stops?
If Tesco are funding the bus company have the bus stop in Tesco car-park and put the other stop by the swimming pool car-park .More on street parking is needed
Swimming pool car park - 4 very useable bus spaces there.
Does anyone have an update on the planned move of the WCC provided green and landfill skips? Moving these and rationalising the bottle banks and the paper and cardboard skips would make room for 10 (?) parking spaces.....as for location - TW business park, area at the back of kerry's on the left as go up the hill to Clee Hill........
How much will this work cost? How much trade will the shops lose while the work is being done?
As even I have pointed out the Tesco car park isn't very large so it would be impracticable to have the bus stop there. If we want to encourage bus usage, then expecting people to carry their shopping from Tesco to the swimming pool is also rather impracticable too.
As to the "recycling" area, a move to Burford has been ruled out. I can't remember why. At one point I thought the move to Bromyard Road had been agreed, but the last update from the Cllrs seemed to suggest this has now been stopped.
I thought the reason for the provision of buses, as was the rest of the Tesco spin, to encourage people to use small of Tenbury and not just the Tesco. Therefore the swimming pool seems the perfect central place affording every busy in town a chance to benefit.
All the buses should serve Teme Street, Market Street, Bromyard Road and terminate at the Business Park so people working at the Business Park could possibly use the bus, as could more people from the Oaklands, Mill Meadow, etc.
Teme St should just have "bus stops" - the current situation where some buses sit outside the Regal for ages causes noise, congestion and pollution.
We need bus stops in both directions near shops such as Bowketts, SPAR, the Co-op and if possible Barn Farm Shop as people do a lot of their heavy local shopping there, also stops near the library/newsagent/post office/doctor as a lot of people go there too.
Why have buses (other than school buses or tourist buses) to/from the swimming pool? If you're fit and healthy enough to use the pool or the gym, can't you can walk there from Teme St?
Think local - shop local...in an ideal world I would agree, the problem is space. The amount of bus stops you are suggesting would leave little room for any road side parking. A considerable amount of the visits to the shops are quick in and out types where people only need to park for 5-10 mins. Although most people agree that using buses is a good idea in reality most will still rely on their own cars. I am surprised the PR works do not seem to go past The Royal Oak and include the round market and up towards the methodist church - it may be possible to get some nose in parking along market st to increase the amount of on street parking - and maybe even put a bus stop there.......
"and all we can really do is put trust in those employed as experts."
Oh gods no, it's generally dealt with at a county level by people who've never visited the site (or done so maybe twice).
This is how we in Stourport have been left with a new supermarket access with - parking bay, gap with bus stop opposite, parking bay, bus stop, traffic lights; all on the approach from a slightly rising road.
A very useful exhibition today in The Pump Rooms. The WCC staff in attendance were very helpful and receptive to concerns and suggestions. I would recommend a visit to the next one (17th Jan - 1330-1530 - Pump Rooms) if anyone has any questions or concerns regarding both the drainage works and the proposed Public Realm works.
What did you find out Rugbyfan?
1. That the number of parking spaces on Teme St would be reduced.
2. That the project may well go ahead prior to the Cattle Market site being developed (Tesco may not start building for a number of years - if at all, but that is another thread entirely!) and that any S106 monies would be recovered when the CM project is developed. - This however could lead to any works completed at the Bridge end being damaged during the construction of the CM project....but would negate the need to secure central funds again and to re-visit the public consultation
3. That everything was being done to co-ordinate the works with the various utilities companies.
4. That the possibility of flood defences had not been included in the equation.
5. That the public consultation does impact the design and the input from "locals" is factored in to the final design - as apparently happened in Upton.
6. The concept in principle of including the Round Market end of town should be included in the PR works, (it currently isn't...) and a feature should be made of the historical centre of the town - the round market...The scheme would then also be "introduced" to drivers on driving on Cross St affording ample notice of the scheme instead of it being introduced to drivers after they had entered the "town centre".
7. I questioned the sense of making the Crow corner a shared space - crossing on a corner and junction goes against the Green X code if nothing else - and HGVs would also be able to encroach onto the "footpath" without considerable amounts of street furniture...the lady i was speaking to was very receptive to the comments and understood and was concerned about the safety implications. Surely shared space opposite The Oak and Brights would suffice..
8. Pelican corssings were for the beneift of the visually impaired and disabled - the need for actual crossing goes against the "shared space" concept in its trueist form.
9. The average speed through town is approx 24mph - this is why the reduction of the speed limit to 20mph was not included in the glossy.
10. That the maintenance of the footpaths and the carriageway is the remit of WCC and that reason for including it in the glossy is that this would be more than maintenance....
That is a summary! Make of the points above as you will - i was surprised by some of the responses.
It seems on one picture that the pavement opposite the Antique shop will be widened ,as this is opposite the proposed Tesco store entrance who in there right mind thinks this will help traffic flow .
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