On March 28th Gloucestershire County
Council is beginning the final and formal stage of consultation on plans that
will have a massive impact on traffic flow around Cheltenham town centre. At
the heart of these plans are proposals which will see a reduction in traffic at
Boots Corner, although not full pedestrianisation which is what I believe most
people who say they support the plans want. Buses, Hackney carriage taxis and
cycles will still be allowed through Boots Corner but cars, private hire taxis,
vans, HGVs etc will all have to use longer routes through residential roads in
the town.
There are other significant changes proposed, most
notably Bath Road between High Street/Vernon Place and junction with the
Playhouse which will be reduced to one lane. This will cause long tail backs along
the High Street and potentially make College Road a rat run (north to south) as
more vehicles use that route to avoid the congestion on Bath Road.
Also at the junction with the Playhouse, traffic
moving south along Bath Road will be able to go straight on or turn right into
Oriel Road. This happens now of course, but with Bath Road down to one lane and
Oriel Road proposed to become two-way there will be cars turning out of Oriel
Road making a right turn which could cause much more congestion along Bath Road.
I would urge you to note carefully the impact of
these changes, the impact on pedestrians trying to cross anywhere near this
area and the impact on congestion associated with the proposed changes. There is a zebra crossing proposed to be
installed near the Playhouse, which I imagine many will welcome.
However I do have worries that this will not be
observed by all motorists. I get regular complaints about a zebra crossing on
Thirlestaine Road which people say is not observed and people feel unsafe using
it. With longer journey times along Bath Road due to the reduction in lanes
motorists could feel impatient and ignore the zebra crossing.
Other issues of concern are the changes to the
controlled lights at the junction of Bath Street and Vernon Place with Bath
Road. With Bath Road being taken down to one lane and the crossing changed to a
puffin crossing there will be times where exiting from Bath Street or Vernon
Place on to Bath Road could take a very long time, this is a real worry for
some people living there.
The changes on Oriel Road and Imperial Square could
also have significant traffic congestion implications. Both roads will go down
from two lanes to one lane east to west to allow for two way traffic. The
Promenade, already very congested at peak times, will have a new right hand lane
turn into Imperial Square which could cause long delays to traffic flowing down the
Promenade. As well as sending displaced traffic through St Luke’s and College
Road via Bath Road, there is a risk of considerably more vehicles travelling through Montpellier
Terrace.
The closure of Boots Corner itself will create a
substantial amount of displaced South to North traffic. Routes most likely to
be affected include Bath Road, St Luke’s Road, College Road (very significantly
in either direction), Hewlett Road, All Saints Road, Fairview Road, Gloucester
Road, Old Bath Road, London Road, Honeybourne Way, St Georges Street, Ambrose
Street, St James Square, St Georges Place, Montpellier Terrace.
The following information has been provided by the
county council -
The general effect of these proposals will be to:
EFFECT OF
PROPOSALS
The general effect of these proposals will be to:
1) Implement new Bus Lanes preventing vehicular
traffic other than Local Buses, Hackney Carriages, Pedal Cycles and Community
Transport Vehicles travelling along part/all of Clarence Street/North Street,
Promenade, Imperial Circus, High Street and Pittville Street (loading permitted
6pm-10am).
2) Implement new Contra Flow Bus Lanes preventing
vehicular traffic other than Buses, Hackney Carriages, Private Hire Vehicles,
Pedal Cycles and Community Transport Vehicles travelling along part of Albion
Street in a north westerly direction (24 hours, 7 days a week restriction).
3) Make
changes to the one-way system to permit two-way travel along part/all of Oriel
Road, Imperial Square, Clarence Street/North Street, Clarence Parade and Albion
Street (revoking existing one-way systems).
4) Implement
new one way systems in order to prohibit two-way travel along all/parts of Post
Office Lane, Gloucester Place and Trafalgar Street.
5) Alter
existing one way system TROs in order to permit two-way cycling along parts
of/all of High Street, Montpellier Street, Promenade, Wellington Street,
Imperial Circus, North Street/Clarence Street and Rodney Road.
6) Implement new Prohibition of Driving provisions
along parts of/all of Grosvenor Terrace and Grosvenor Place South.
7) Alter
existing Prohibition of Driving TROs in order to permit two-way cycling along
parts of/all of the Promenade, High Street, Cambray Place, County Court Road
and Regent Street/Chambers.
8) Prohibit right turns from Imperial Square (east)
onto Imperial Square (north)/Oriel Road and from Vittoria Walk into Oriel Road.
9) Install
new Zebra Crossings on sections of Royal Well Road (to replace one existing
Signalised Pedestrian Crossing and one existing Pelican Crossing), St Georges
Road (to replace existing Signalised Pedestrian Crossing), Bath Road and Albion
Street.
10) Install a new Puffin Crossing on Bath Road (to
replace existing Signalised Pedestrian Crossing).
11) make
alterations to waiting restrictions, parking, loading and Pay & Display
within the Town Centre along part/all of Clarence Street, Clarence Parade,
Albion Street, Pittville Street, High Street, Promenade, Imperial Circus, North
Street, Imperial Square, Oriel Road, St George’s Road, Montpellier Street,
London Road, Bath Road, Crescent Terrace, Inner Promenade, St Georges Place,
Grosvenor Place South.
12) Remove the existing Pelican Crossing from North
Street/High Street.
13) Revoke
existing TROs and replace them with new provisions or remake existing
provisions as an administrative exercise.
REASONS
The County Council has a duty under section
122 of the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984 when making TROs to consider the
expeditious, convenient and safe movement of traffic and other traffic and the
provision of suitable and adequate parking facilities on and off the highway.
This requires the County Council to weigh up several factors when making a
decision to proceed with a proposal. These include if applicable:
- The desirability of securing and maintaining reasonable access to
premises;
- The effect on the amenities of any locality affected and (without
prejudice to the generality of this paragraph) the importance of
regulating and restricting roads by HGVs so as to preserve or improve the
amenities of the area through which the road runs;
- The national air strategy;
- The importance of facilitating the passage of public service
vehicles and of securing the safety and convenience of persons using or
desiring to use such vehicles;
- Any other matters appearing to the County Council to be relevant.
These proposals under section 1 and
Section 23 of
the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984 will assist in:
a) Avoiding danger to
persons or other traffic using the road or any other road or for preventing the
likelihood of any such danger arising;
b) Facilitate the
passage on the road or any other road of any class of traffic (including
pedestrians);
c) Preserving the character of
the road in a case where it is specially suitable for use by persons on
horseback or on foot and for preserving or improving the amenities of the area
through which the road run;
d) Improving/maintaining air quality specified in paragraphs (a) to
(c) of subsection (1) of section 87 of the Environment Act 1995.
In summary for the
reasons above the proposed TROs will assist as part of the Local Sustainable
Transport Fund (LSTF) Project to enable junction and signing alterations to divert car
traffic away from “Boots Corner”, car park sign changes. The proposals will
help to improve bus reliability, removing most of the traffic from the Town
Centre and creating a safer environment for pedestrians and cyclists.
The public
are to be consulted from March 28th 2014
– 28th April.
A
website has been set up which will contain further details on the scheme this
can be accessed from March 27th at www.gloucestershire.gov.uk/extra/ctp and
will be for public access.
On March
27th posters will be erected around the town so that the public
have a chance to comment on the scheme, there will also be information in the
media and notices will be placed in the paper on March 28th.
