WHOSE
FAULT IS IT?
Whose fault is it that traffic is growing?
Motorists have to drive further and further to
get to the same place because of restrictions.
Traffic, like water, will always find the route
of least resistance.
Why do experts like David Gartside, the council's
head of traffic, not realise that if you block
the main branches of a river then the water will
back up the smaller tributaries and eventually
flood the surroundings?
If they were surgeons treating narrowed arteries
they would be further restricting and even
blocking them and also any with healthy flows.
They would be struck off for incompetence and
never be allowed to work again.
Why do we continually have to hear the lie that
building new roads is self-defeating, as it
encourages people to drive? Does the Humber
Bridge and its approaches ever suffer congestion
despite being one of the few roads people might
actually drive simply because it's there?
Yes, there are new roads that get congested. Yes,
there are even stretches of new roads, such as
those around Heathrow linking to the M25, that
were congested from the day they were opened.
That is because we had a totally inadequate road
system to start with and replacements were
designed only to carry what the original road
would have carried, not what the improved road
could be expected to carry. B J Mann |
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CONGESTION CHARGING
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Rush hour congestion charges are being
suggested for the three main cities in the East Midlands.
The £2 charge for Nottingham, Derby and Leicester comes
in a report prepared for the county and city councils in
these areas. The fee would apply during morning and
evening rush hours starting in 2016. Steve Calvert from
Nottinghamshire County Council said the scheme would mean
more investment in public transport in the region. The
report said £128m could be raised annually for public
transport in the three cities.
The congestion charge would involve monitoring motorists
with roadside camera equipment using number plate
recognition technology. The zones would probably be
located inside the A38 in Derby, inside Nottingham's ring
road and Leicester's outer ring road. Paul Southby,
regional director for the Confederation of British
Industry (CBI) in the East Midlands, said some employers
feel additional costs like workplace parking fees or
congestion charges can make some cities more expensive to
operate in.
The study looked at the Derby, Leicester and Nottingham
areas together with other congested areas in
Leicestershire and southern Derbyshire. The councils will
apply for £3m in government grants for a further study
if they agreed to proceed with the initiative. An earlier
study showed that the average traffic delay in the Derby,
Leicester and Nottingham areas was just over two minutes
per mile travelled at peak times. (Source: BBC News, Apr/08)
The city council is deciding whether to bid
for government cash to reduce traffic jams and has been
told a congestion charge would be necessary. The council
is considering charging people £2 to drive into the city
at morning rush hour between 7am and 9am. There would be
no charge for drivers leaving the city or driving outside
the peak morning period or at weekends. The charge could
also be suspended during school holidays, when traffic
was lighter.
City council leader Chris Williamson said that the
council's hands were tied because it desperately wanted
about £200m to sort out traffic jams in Derby before
they got out of control. He said, "The aim is that
the quality of the alternatives on offer would be such
that it would free up enough road space that people who
had no viable alternative to using their car would
actually be getting value for their £2 into the city
because they would have clearer roads."
He added, "If we do bid for this cash and we get it,
we will be committed to introducing a charge but that
charge would only come in once we have used the money to
improve public transport by creating new park-and-ride
schemes, a dedicated bus way and bus routes into the
city. That means that there is unlikely to be any charge
at all until around 2018 or 2019 and even then it would
only be for a couple of pounds." (Source: Derby Evening Telegraph, Nov/07)
Labour has scrapped two of its most
controversial policies, congestion charging and a parking
meters scheme, after local election losses. Chris
Williamson, Labour group leader, said the decision to
shelve congestion charging proposals and parking meters
at Littleover was made on the back of the way residents
cast their votes. Planning and highways cabinet member
Ranjit Banwait revealed that he had told officers on the
day after the election to put on hold his plans to
introduce parking charges in Littleover.
Labour has also admitted that it is waiting to talk to
the Liberal Democrats about a possible power-sharing
agreement to run the council. Mr Banwait said, "The
election results were a huge disappointment for us as
they showed we have not been able to win the majority of
people over. We've got to be big enough now to swallow
our pride, hold our hands up and say, you know what, we
got this one wrong." He added that the decision to
scrap the meters was not for political gain.
Mr Williamson said, "Agreement to introduce a
congestion charge in 10 years' time would have unlocked
£200m of Government money to revolutionise our transport
systems before any charge was introduced. But the people
of Derby have spoken and it's not for me to impose
something on them that they don't want. I'm not going to
pretend that it's my personal belief that this is the
right decision for the future of the city but there's no
escaping the fact that it's the democratic decision. The
polls don't lie. The council now needs to either find an
option that is acceptable or face the fact that Derby
will just have to manage with increasing congestion in
the city." He said he personally felt that getting
the money would have been the right move for the city.
(Source: Derby Evening Telegraph, May/08)
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