Hillsborough corner such a depressing mess of a place!

[Cyclone]

what they've done to the traffic flow through the corner should be illegal. It's incredibly difficult to actually get to anywhere.

 

I live on walkley lane, so if I want to get towards the corner I have the option of an illegal right turn at the bottom of walkley lane (as the police and pretty much everyone else does), which then means I can't turn right towards the jet garage.

Or I can go the approved way down past the medical centre and behind the weir, but then it's a left turn only onto holme lane. From which point I can either do a U turn, make an illegal right turn, or drive through the housing estate to come out up by the co-op.

If you come from the co-op end you can turn neither right nor left at the main junction, but you can cut through the corner of the housing estate to go right onto holme lane, no way to go left to the jet garage though.

And if you come from holme lane towards that elusive jet garage, you can't turn right onto langsett road without going through the tram gate, so the only option is to procede to the next roundabout and double back on yourself.

 

It truly is the worse single junction i've ever had the misfortune to navigate.

[march]

For anyone who hasn't seen it in a while -

 

http://www.thetrams.co.uk/supertram/middlewood/hillsboroughj.jpg

 

Not sure how old this picture is but it looked the same last time I was there. It really does look a mess.

[Greybeard]

As a fairly frequent visitor to Hillsborough I have to agree that the tram seems to be the main cause of the blight in the shopping area. The road and pavements from the 'Corner' up to the junction with Dykes Hall road are just too narrow for pedestrian comfort and the positioning of the outbound bus stop outside the greengrocers is ridiculous.

 

We're lucky that we can approach Hillsboro' via Worral and Dykes Hall Road and have easy access to the Co-Op car park, but it's understandable if people from Stannington and Walkley give it a miss altogether.

 

Can't imagine what kind of retail activity would be viable on Hillsboro' Corner given the volume of traffic on Holme Lane/Bradfield Road, - perhaps these units might be better developed as offices ?

[Bilge]

So what's the solution to the infamous Hillsbro Corner traffic problem then? It's clear nobody really understands it (even people that live there) or they just ignore the rules altogether. It's holding back development of the Corner and the whole of central Hillsbro. Visitors are continually getting lost and it's very difficult to direct them. I know, I've tried - but I can see their eyes glazing over when I say you can't go straight on there you've got to go left up there, right there, turn there, stand on your head, whistle 'Dixie' and then go straight on.

 

How about if we just let the cars go where they want, for the sake of simplicity, for a trial period of 6 months. Would the trams really get held up so badly? Could we make it 20mph around the crossroads and no HGVs except deliveries allowed. Discourage traffic but don't make it impossible. Would that help or make it worse? What other options are there? The signage is still terrible and the pedestrian bit across Holme Lane is so confusing it's dangerous.

[Cyclone]

how about putting in a roundabout for cars and a tunnel for the tram?

 

oh and maybe a bridge like thing for pedestrians.

[Ousetunes]

Originally posted by Bilge

How about if we just let the cars go where they want, for the sake of simplicity, for a trial period of 6 months. Would the trams really get held up so badly? Could we make it 20mph around the crossroads and no HGVs except deliveries allowed. Discourage traffic but don't make it impossible. Would that help or make it worse? What other options are there? The signage is still terrible and the pedestrian bit across Holme Lane is so confusing it's dangerous.

 

 

What are you suggesting? That the motorist (who contributes £42 billion per annum through various 'road taxes') be allowed to go where he or she wants? To use the very roads he or she has paid for? Not to have to wait for another half-empty tram passes through? Even to SHARE with the hallowed Supertram?

 

Don't make you address known, or Sheffield City Council will be round to take you away before you can say "Well, where you want to go is two minutes away but seems as you're in a car....,"

[BoroughGal]

Depite living here, I'm not going to particularly defend Hillsborough, it does look a tip at the moment - scruffy shops, nasty signage, bad traffic problems etc, but I have to say that the corner shop on Hillsborough Corner is (IMO) architecturally very nice. While I wish he'd hurry up and do something with it, at least it *is* in the process of being renovated, and at least it's no longer the scruffy old Oxfam shop.

[Bilge]

Under the roundabout we could have shops, a public space and an aquarium.

[Ousetunes]

Actually, Hillsborough Corner is testament to this council's ill-conceived public transport policies and the ridiculous priorities afforded to the likes of Supertram, totally at the behest of the businesses and residents of - in this instance - Hillsborough.

 

For that reason alone, it is a reminder of how important Supertram is to this council, possibly by way of an attempt to justify its massive costs whilst the rest of us go into a sub-bracket entitled 'other road (ab)users'.

 

It's a daily reminder at the gross incompetence of our city chiefs. It speaks of businesses going bust; of there being nobody else interested in setting up a business where customers cannot get to and cannot park outside when they finally find their way round.

 

It resembles a Toy-Town that's been trashed. Which it has, by the people supposedly elected to represent the very people of suburbs like Hillsborough.

 

Simple question: Would you set up a business on Hillsborough Corner?

 

Precisely.

[Bilge]

Let's not start tram-bashing too much. The tram is fantastic - I just wish it was part of a proper region-wide system, but it's only half-hearted and doesn't go to most places you'd want. The same goes for Manchester and Nottm. Cities in Europe have proper tram systems that work - we can do the same here. So we should try and work with the tram not moan about it all the time. Someone mentioned house prices in Hills - well, the tram has influenced that , making it a place where people want to live more and more because of a reliable, pleasant, easy commute to work/college and for leisure.

 

Yes, I would set up a business on Hillsbro Corner because there are a lot of people walking past every day, and some of them even have money to spend on things. At the moment, at 'Hillsbro Interchange' for example, you can't even buy a newspaper or a Mars bar anywhere nearby. Not every business is geared to car drivers, not yet anyway.

 

It's not sustainable for every single person to have a car, drive it where they want all the time, and expect to park right outside wherever they're going. Particularly in cities like Sheff where many streets were only built for horses and carts. Surely there is a solultion for the Hillsbro Cnr traffic problem that is an improvement on what is there at present? Allowing car drivers just a little bit more freedom (but not too much) might help, I don't know.