Thanks to Steve for this ..,
Next time we complain about traffic jams in Abingdon we ought to spare a thought for Oxford City Centre now that Queen Street is virtually bus free. Many of the buses have been re-routed to make way for the new – soon to open – Westgate Shopping Centre
This was the scene in St Aldates at 3.30pm today.
Steve counted 16 buses including a couple heading down the Abingdon Road to Abingdon – joined by all these other buses going to other places.
The situation has probably not been helped by repairs being carried out to the Folly Bridge. Work there is due to be completed at about the time the Westgate Shopping Centre reopens in another months time. So we will see then how the bus situation works out then.
And I bet every one of those buses had their engines running. I notice that all the buses claim some sort of green capability but, in my experience, none of that counts and they all sit in St Aldates with their engine running!
Here we go again – planners and town councillors who solve one problem and create five more…. Mind you, medieval towns of 10,00o weren’t designed to carry modern traffic for 100,000.
The only unusual thing about this is that there isn’t a bus on the other side of the road causing utter chaos.
Mike, I sat in that queue on Wednesday, and the bus driver definitely *did* turn his engine off for periods of time. The big problem was stop/start down St Aldates.
Here’s where electric vehicles deliver a big improvement to the urban environment, even if they don’t solve the underline big problem of medieval towns meeting modern traffic. When politicians try to address this problem, it usually means some pain involved for drivers, there’s a backlash and we go back to square one.
A great example of the (scientifically BS, but metaphorically useful) boiling frog effect!
Annoying as it may be but 16 buses stuck in St Aldates pales into insignificance compared with the gridlock that the town centre is currently in ( 17.30 Friday) lord only knows how more housing will impact on us?
Time to move I think ?
add to this, closure of Castle Street, Final push for Westgate. And closure of Frideswide Square, again, for repairs to kerbs/road surface/collapsed drain covers etc…..