Castlegate/old Market area redevelopment

[*_ash_* 88]

4 hours ago, Planner1 said:

I asked my old colleagues at SCC.  You might find something at the bottom of the page here 

Thanks @Planner1

 

Yes, looking at the layout there will be one feeder lane from Park Sq (as it now with the works), then means at rush hour, when Furnival Road is full (every day at rush hour), then the buses can't get past them onto Blonk St and Wicker. Already causing chaos. Glad I don't use buses, this is a terrible mistake.

[redbig 10]

12 hours ago, *_ash_* said:

Thanks @Planner1

 

Yes, looking at the layout there will be one feeder lane from Park Sq (as it now with the works), then means at rush hour, when Furnival Road is full (every day at rush hour), then the buses can't get past them onto Blonk St and Wicker. Already causing chaos. Glad I don't use buses, this is a terrible mistake.

Unless they don't show the road markings on that layout. Exit on to park square coming from Furnival road is currently 2 lanes (or it was before the road works) but they don't show that either

[nuthead 10]

At the moment all it takes is one car heading towards Furnival Road to block Blonk Street. As soon as that happens the entire Wicker area comes to a standstill, which in turn blocks the Wicker/Derek Dooley junction and soon after blocks the Furnival Road/Derek Dooley junction causing complete gridlock. It could do with the give way line moving for cars passing Blonk street from Exchange Place towards Furnival Road instead of at the end of Blonk Streeet towards Exchange Place (although selfish idiots would ignore it and block everything still)

 

From what I can tell, the road layout now is pretty much how it will be except cars will come off Park Square and be routed up the other side of Exchange Place to where they are currently. Towards Park Square Exchange Place will be one lane and then split into 3 just before the roundabout, just like it is currently. The only other change to come is them putting a roundabout in on Blonk Street at the turn to the NCP/where Blonk Street becomes bus only towards Wicker

[*_ash_* 88]

2 hours ago, redbig said:

Unless they don't show the road markings on that layout. Exit on to park square coming from Furnival road is currently 2 lanes (or it was before the road works) but they don't show that either

That link at the bottom of planners link looks pretty conclusive to me.

 

It's going to be 1 lane off the Park Sq side.

[Michael_N 36]

If anything the whole area around Castlegate/Fitzalan Square seems to have been designed to make things worst than they were before, even for buses and taxis. Before these changes you used to rarely see the Waingate/Commercial Street/Flat Street junction getting blocked, now it happens on almost a hourly basis, even impacting on the trams sometimes with traffic backing up along Waingate and blocking the junction with Commercial Street.

 

Can't help but think all this could've been avoided if the bottom part of Fitzalan Square was left as a through road with the traffic signals and the top half been pedestrianised. Just don't make sense.

 

Blonk Street/Wicker is a nightmare now too, with a noticeable increase in traffic at the bottom half of the Parkway and along Derek Dooley Way as all the ways out around the Wicker have been closed to through traffic.

 

Also maybe one for @Planner1, wouldn't the junction at the end of Wicker/Blonk Street/Nursery Street have been better with a mini-roundabout rather than the mess it will be? Its even caused some bus routes to have to be permanently altered and no longer serve Waingate/Wicker areas (10/24/25/56). 

[redbig 10]

2 hours ago, *_ash_* said:

That link at the bottom of planners link looks pretty conclusive to me.

 

It's going to be 1 lane off the Park Sq side.

It does look like that.

 

Glad I go through the area an hour or 2 before it gets busy

[Bargepole23 337]

On 12/11/2019 at 10:35, *_ash_* said:

That link at the bottom of planners link looks pretty conclusive to me.

 

It's going to be 1 lane off the Park Sq side.

Good. Hopefully will force more through traffic onto the ring road and out of the public realm.

[*_ash_* 88]

7 hours ago, Bargepole23 said:

Good. Hopefully will force more through traffic onto the ring road and out of the public realm.

So far, the avoiders of it, have brought this section off RR to a complete standstill every rush hour.

[ads36 214]

We have a ring road, if it's full, the solution isn't more cars.

 

The solution to congestion, isn't to allow rat-running.

 

There appears no limit to how much we're prepared to spend trying to get people to drive more. 

Edited November 16, 2019 by ads36

[Bargepole23 337]

19 hours ago, *_ash_* said:

So far, the avoiders of it, have brought this section off RR to a complete standstill every rush hour.

Good. Hopefully will force some of them out of their cars and onto public transport, walking, cycling or any other sustainable form of transport. 

[*_ash_* 88]

Bargepole, did you not read what I wrote?

 

Why are people going to get on a bus, when the whole point I was making, is that the bus no longer has a way to get past queueing cars!

 

5 hours ago, Bargepole23 said:

Good. Hopefully will force some of them out of their cars and onto public transport, walking, cycling or any other sustainable form of transport. 

On 11/11/2019 at 19:24, *_ash_* said:

Thanks @Planner1

 

Yes, looking at the layout there will be one feeder lane from Park Sq (as it now with the works), then means at rush hour, when Furnival Road is full (every day at rush hour), then the buses can't get past them onto Blonk St and Wicker. Already causing chaos. Glad I don't use buses, this is a terrible mistake.

 

[Martin C 81]

2 hours ago, *_ash_* said:

Bargepole, did you not read what I wrote?

 

Why are people going to get on a bus, when the whole point I was making, is that the bus no longer has a way to get past queueing cars!

 

 

Hopefully common sense will prevail (I'll not hold my breath though) and the few remaining routes (20 & 97/98 I believe) that operate via Commercial Street, Park Square and Blonk Street to reach The Wicker will be diverted via Angel St, Castle Street and Waingate.