The council puts more busgates in Sheffield

[HotPhil 10]

That's also the timeframe that would mean the government that starts the implementation can then sit in opposition and claim it's a disaster and they would never have allowed it.

[kal77uk 10]

No they're not. They're just improving public transport by making it possible for buses to get through without getting stuck in traffic.

 

I don't see why it's a problem for you. There's a small few whom it might be an inconvenience for, but forthe vast majority it just means taking a slightly different route.

 

What are you on about- where did you get "improving public transport"

 

1. Sheffield Supertram was supposed to be the answer to all the congestion problems

 

2. Buses were de-centralised in the 80s in order to allow private companies to run services at a profit.

 

3. Bus lanes- such as that on Chesterfield Road, were laid at the taxpayers expense on behalf of the private bus companies.

 

4. The one way system was created as a measure to free up traffic flow through the system.

 

5. The Wicker is/was a major road- the busgate and road diversion was planned in 1995/96, yet it was not ready until 2008. The money for potholes and street lighting has already been used, even though central government has been asked for more money.

 

You are deluded if you think in 2008 Sheffield Council have any interest in traffic/environmental issues. The main purpose of being in a council is to maximise revenue. The council is a business not an arm of government, why do you think they have a Chief Executive?

[Planner1 438]

 

SO basically its coming, the only thing that needs to be done in the intervening 5-6 years is to create a road system that creates congestion....... thereby the congestion charge must be introduced.

 

The Government don't need to do anything to create congestion. The growth in car ownership and usage is doing it anyway!

[Planner1 438]

Cycle paths, is there any reason why the powers that be aren't to keen to develop these?

 

You seem to have a bee in your bonnet about cycle paths. Basically, if you ask cyclists, they don't want them.

[HotPhil 10]

As a cyclist, I do want cycle paths. But proper, well-thought out ones - not the mish-mash 5 metres here, 6 metres there token efforts that seem to be the current craze. Maybe in 50 years they'll all be joined up so as to be useful, but the current set-up in this city is confusing to all and therefore dangerous.

[Planner1 438]

As a cyclist, I do want cycle paths. But proper, well-thought out ones - not the mish-mash 5 metres here, 6 metres there token efforts that seem to be the current craze. Maybe in 50 years they'll all be joined up so as to be useful, but the current set-up in this city is confusing to all and therefore dangerous.

 

Hate to be nit-picking but those are cycle lanes. Cycle paths are off road cycle routes. There's a big difference.

[newvanandman 10]

Recent statement from Transport secretary Ruth Kelly:

 

""It would be unwise to rule out national road pricing in the long term" but "there are real practical issues which need to be overcome..........which makes it unrealistic to think of taking decisions in the next 5-6 years on whether or not to proceed"

 

In the meantime the DfT will run a couple of demonstration projects to try out the technology.

 

How much clearer do you want it? They're not planning to do it, but haven't ruled it out for the future (you woudln't expect them to).

 

But, according to your theory, they are going to do it anyway, right after the election.

 

If you had even the faintest concept of what is involved in a national scheme, you'd see that even if they decided tommorrow that they would have such a scheme, it would take years to plan and implement.

 

Manchester have been discussing their congestion charging scheme for a couple of years and, even if they get the funding, it won't be implemented for another five years. That's how long these things take to design and put in, and that's just for one city.

 

Well thats a reatreat if i ever saw one.Its a far cry from what you said before,which was(cant be bothered to search for it)something like,what dont you get,There are NO plans for road pricing.

Now you are saying not when i said!

This pretty much covers it doesnt it?

No never,just testing,not yet,oh well we will have to!

[newvanandman 10]

That's also the timeframe that would mean the government that starts the implementation can then sit in opposition and claim it's a disaster and they would never have allowed it.

 

My only concern with that is,if everything this goverment has done has been crooked,whats to say the next election will be any different.This goverment and its unelected spineless muppet,know they are has beens,im sure they are working hard as we speak on a plan.

Maybe they will merge with the conservatives,no they cant do that,they have already!

[mr_busdriver 10]

You seem to have a bee in your bonnet about cycle paths. Basically, if you ask cyclists, they don't want them.

 

 

 

 

I do yes, this is the ultimate way do decrease carbon.

 

Yes hardened cyclists (hardened because they are seasoned cyclists, not hardened due to taking viagra) are happy to take their lives in their hands, but me ( and I guess many others) don't fancy cycling among heavy traffic.

 

So wheres the cycle lanes?

 

Build them, and if people refuse to use them, then punish motorists, but if we don't have any option then its not fair really.

[sheff71 10]

Reading this thread (and the £100k raised in fines in 7 weeks!), i'm concerned about driving through/past that area... if I come down from the Parkway onto Cutlers Gate towards the Wicker, where can I go?

 

1) Can you still turn left onto the road between the Hilton Hotel and the Hotel Bristol, and then left again back onto the Parkway?

 

2) Previously, at the Wicker junction you could turn either left towards Waingate, or right under Wicker Arches and onto Attercliffe... does this bus gate stop you doing either of these as in the past, and if so how do you get to Attercliffe Rd now?

 

3) If I go straight on (past the Associated Chemist) on this IRR, is much of this new road still covered in roadworks... and what's the speed limit on this road (40?).

 

I'd just like to be prepared for if/when I have to use this stretch of road, from where I work it used to be one of the alternate routes when we had one of the city's infamous gridlock days! Also it used to be a reasonably quick alternate route to Meadowhall, so would be good to avoid unnecessary fines or delays while trying to suss out these road signs for the first time...

 

 

Regarding the whole bus gates/getting people out of cars debate, if the government (and lower down the councils) really wanted to put public transport schemes as a serious alternative for car drivers, they'd create large car parking areas on the fringes of the city's main routes (like at Nunnery Square) where the car parking would be completely free - and then the bus or tram from there into the city centre would also be free (to designated dropoff points, e.g. Markets, Cathedral, Castle Square, Moorfoot, bus station).

 

With this INCENTIVE (rather than punishment) more drivers would be open to the idea of parking for free and getting quick and free shuttle services into and out of the centre, and would then give the council/government more scope to charge more for any other traffic that still wishes to drive through the centre even after this allowance.

 

Sometimes a carrot can work, it doesn't always have to be a stick... in Notttingham (where I visit maybe a couple of times a year and usually am aiming to get to the city centre), you can park in a free and safe car park, with the tram stop into the centre just yards away... and the cost of the tram into the centre isn't excessive, even for a return (it wasn't last time anyway).

 

It saves me trying to navigate through an unfamiliar road network, at little cost. Maybe it's different though when you don't live there, and are only using it for special occasions...

 

anyway, enough!

[*_ash_* 88]

Reading this thread (and the £100k raised in fines in 7 weeks!), i'm concerned about driving through/past that area... if I come down from the Parkway onto Cutlers Gate towards the Wicker, where can I go?

 

1) Can you still turn left onto the road between the Hilton Hotel and the Hotel Bristol, and then left again back onto the Parkway?

 

Yes.

 

2) Previously, at the Wicker junction you could turn either left towards Waingate, or right under Wicker Arches and onto Attercliffe... does this bus gate stop you doing either of these as in the past, and if so how do you get to Attercliffe Rd now?

 

You can now either turn left from CG, onto Wicker, for Wicker shops.

Or straight ahead for IRR, which then has a right turn for Attercliffe and Spital Hill.

3) If I go straight on (past the Associated Chemist) on this IRR, is much of this new road still covered in roadworks... and what's the speed limit on this road (40?).

 

Just about finished. Doubt you'd get upto 40.

 

...........

[bigwind 10]

And if you read any of the reports properly, you'd see that the government AREN'T now pressing ahead with NATIONAL road user charging, they are saying that they need more local trials.

 

which in turn will be rolled out nationally by stealth as more and more 'local' trials take place.