Council plan to close more roads

[Bill]

I was under the impression that the council were in dire financial difficulties so why is it they’ve embarked on yet another costly hair brain scheme that’s almost certainly destined fail. Plans to close off whole areas to traffic forcing drivers to make longer journeys are being put forward against the wishes of the majority.

So many of the roads have already been closed off but closing off Hallfields Road will force me down Long Lane and all the way to round via Winwick Road which is crazy, so I guess Synge Street pie shop won’t be getting my custom in future.

 

Bill 😊

[Evil Sid]

They may well be in dire financial difficulties, however there are boxes hat need to be ticked in the "green" section of the councils "mission statement" paper.

Can't have unticked boxes makes the council look bad.....🤫.....

That it creates more pollution because of the extra mileage people will have to travel to get to where they need to be is neither here nor there (pun intended), as long as the people in the area have their cycles and trollers to get around then that is all that matters.

Whether they want it or not does not come into it, they are getting it end off.....🤦‍♀️

[Observer II]

Half of this caper is about trends, other Councils are doing it so we'd better etc. Bit like the mentality involved in cutting holes in a perfectly servicable pair of jeans.   Answer - vote 'em out.    😑

[Evil Sid]

All very well saying vote em out,but who do you get to replace them that are better?

Some people would argue that they are all the same no matter what party they represent. Career politicians each and every one.

[Bill]

I’m not sure if party politics comes into this or if it’s just down to the people the council employ as road planners, who as we all know seem to have a habit of making some unpopular decisions. But the point is this will be an expensive experiment costing money that we’re told they don’t have. I’m sure we could all come up with ideas where if the money was available, we could do something to actually improve traffic flow.

 

Bill 😊

[Evil Sid]

That was the idea behind getting rid of the island on winwick road near the campus to increase traffic flow and ease traffic build up along winwick road.

Pity they then stuck several sets of traffic lights along the  route from town to the motorway and thus defeated the whole point of the exercise in the first place....🤭

[Confused52]

On 6/3/2022 at 8:24 AM, Bill said:

I’m not sure if party politics comes into this or if it’s just down to the people the council employ as road planners, who as we all know seem to have a habit of making some unpopular decisions. But the point is this will be an expensive experiment costing money that we’re told they don’t have. I’m sure we could all come up with ideas where if the money was available, we could do something to actually improve traffic flow.

 

Bill 😊

As far as I can tell not a single LTN has been introduced by a Conservative council. It is a tool of the left to reduce car use and increase the number of PCNs issued to generate more money. Eventually it will fall apart when a neutral judge looks at one Judicial Review or other.

[Bill]

Yes, I think you’re right there Con.

The basic idea of local low traffic areas makes sense but not when it involves cutting off a main through roads and making journeys excessively long.

It’s also a bit worrying to think that as a private car owner, you could end up with a £130 fine for just driving into a street that your cars not registered to be in.  A cash minefield to benefit the council.

 

Bill 😊

[Confused52]

Having looked at the report of the consultation the number of people supporting the Orford scheme to a degree was dwarfed by the 55% against and a substantial don't know element. Our council needs to be re-educated about what the word democracy means, they don't get it.

The orders are experimental and the council is already talking about making them permanent. Experimental means just that they are supposed to take measurements and prove they work. To do that they need to have an object in mins and prove it works. This council fudged that in respect of the 20mph limits fiasco and they are going to do it again. There really ought to be a way of getting these anti-democratic hooligans prosecuted and preferably barring from office. However there isn't - they have to be chucked out at the ballot box, so we are lost.

[Observer II]

They rely on apathy and guaranteed level of Party support to get elected;  once elected they can pursue their own pet ideas regardless.  

[Bill]

 

Went it comes to gauging public opinion, the council’s road planners are masters at wording things in such a way that hardly anyone would object. When we had the speed bump issue here the question asked was “Would you like us to do something to reduce traffic cutting through your roads” which received 95% support. When it transpired that their plan was to install speed bumps, that support dropped to just 7%.

It's always going to be difficult given in these areas 40% don’t own cars and don’t care how it affects those that do. Neither will these people care about how other areas will be affected by diverting the traffic. But the planners will just keep insisting they’ve done their due diligence, and claim objectors are just small vocal minority.  Where have I heard this before?  

I just hope these plans have deliberately been arranged to be Ott such that they get the residential restrictions accepted but then allow them to be seen as the good guys when they eventually remove the main through road restrictions.

 

Bill 😊

[Observer II]

Once elected they invest little time and energy in acertaining the true nature of public opinion on anything, they have their own agendas and pursue them regardless.   A good example is now in Scotland, where the Greens are in Gov with the SNP;  they now plan to introduce a general road tax, on top of the normal vehicle tax, with the intention of reducing the number of road users generally.  Add this to the "net zero" nonsence and coming strictures on EV use  and the vast majority of the Plebs will be priced out of cars and off the roads.    😠

[Evil Sid]

Perhaps instead of electric vehicles we should go back to horse and cart transport.

After all using that method the empire was formed and maintained.

The bonus as well is that horse cam self replicate and their emissions bring the rhubarb up a treat.......🤔

[Observer II]

If the Green fanatics have their way Sid, that's the direction of travel.😠

[Gary]

My thoughts on the issue which is certainly generating a lot of debate!

https://www.warrington-worldwide.co.uk/2022/06/09/can-more-than-4400-people-be-wrong/

[Bill]

I’ve just checked and over five thousand people have already objected by signing the online petition that was set up on change.org.

Also there’s a meeting organised for Monday night at 5.30 outside the town hall to protest against these plans. I think I'm going to make an effort to attend this and hopefully if enough people do the same, it might make the councillors think twice and reverse these silly road closures.

 

Bill 😊

[Bill]

I ended up going to the protest event at the town hall last night but despite a big turnout, I get the distinct feeling that the council will simply ignore everything and press on with their plans as they always do.  

 So here I am photobombing Gary's interview.   On the plus side of things, the wife and myself managed to have a meal and a drink while in the town, so no dishes to wash that night.

 

Bill  😊

[Gary]

On 6/14/2022 at 7:44 PM, Bill said:

I ended up going to the protest event at the town hall last night but despite a big turnout, I get the distinct feeling that the council will simply ignore everything and press on with their plans as they always do.  

 So here I am photobombing Gary's interview.   On the plus side of things, the wife and myself managed to have a meal and a drink while in the town, so no dishes to wash that night.

 

Bill  😊

Good to catch up ! Chaos now reigns on the roads of Westy!

[Evil Sid]

Nowt new there then Gary.

They won't be satisfied until a four mile radius of town centre is traffic free, forcing people to either change their routes to suit or take the option of the expensive bus service.

You only have to look at the number of multi *apartment* blocks going up.

*Flats* as we used to call them but apartment sounds grander and so they can charge more. Fifteen flats with five parking spaces between them. Fine if you work close by but a nightmare if you have to travel any distance that is not covered by public transport.

[Observer II]

This is why politics needs an infusion of "populism", doing what the majority of people want and not just pursuing individual unicorns.    

[Bill]

amazing video of the effects this has.

Love the speeded up bits, makes the cars look like confused ants.

 

Bill

[Confused52]

Frankly it is glaringly obvious that any pollution there is will only be made worse by this fiasco. It is clearly an experiment under false pretences with no declared objection no experimental method and no criteria for success. Amateur nonsense.

[Evil Sid]

15 hours ago, Confused52 said:

It is clearly an experiment under false pretences with no declared objection no experimental method and no criteria for success. Amateur nonsense.

More likely a "lets see what we can get away with under the guise of making the environment greener before the plebs catch on"

The thought process,if any, probably ran along the following lines...if we close off the roads to through traffic there will be less wear and tear on the roads and so we can save on having to repair potholes as less traffic equals less potholes. if we then say it is to make a greener environment in the area then they can't object can they? if it is touted as a green project then it is a good thing no matter how much chaos it causes.

[Bill]

Russ Bowden when he was trying to explain why they were doing this said they were trying to make it easier for people to walk and cycle through these areas which is all well and good, but this creates problems for the majority who own cars. Overall, restricting through traffic on residential roads isn’t a bad thing but where the road has historically also carried through traffic as is the case with Grange Ave and Hallfields Rd then understandably people are going to get upset.

The council’s survey would only have included people who live on these roads while completely ignoring those who need to travel that way. What’s more, Mr Bowden admitted that less than 5% responded (both for and against) when the proposals were first aired. So based on this, literally a handful of people would be in favour while now thousands object and yet the council still believe they have a mandate to carry on.

The council knows how to play these numbers, they’re masters at it and for me it simply confirms that these people won’t be happy until we have no cars at all on our roads.

 

Bill 😊

[Evil Sid]

Given Orfords past reputation the last thing you would need to do was either walk or cycle around there.....🤭

and at one time it would probably be last thing you did.