We need a ring road Options

[Iommi]

If it isn't a green field by-pass, ( or on the W side of town utilising the A34 ), ie a distance from the town centre it will have to be built over existing development won't it.

Exactly; which is why I sure this is all that we will hear of it. That doesn't necessarily mean it wouldn't be a good idea if we were able to though.

Not like the A339 Newbury - Basingstoke dual carrigeway plan that was considered at great cost.

Sorry, my thickness strikes again and I don't know what you mean!

[dannyboy]

Exactly; which is why I sure this is all that we will hear of it. That doesn't necessarily mean it wouldn't be a good idea if we were able to though.


Sorry, my thickness strikes again and I don't know what you mean!

About 20 years ago a plan was drawn up, with scale maps, elevations plans, a fully proposed route, etc etc to make the A339 into dual carriageway, from Basingstoke to Newbury.

The DoT produced a thick A4 sized consultation document which was available to all & sundry. I don't know if it was to do with the use of Greenham as a base for Cruise, but the plan must have cost a fair few £ to design & produce.

[Bloggo]

The only piece of new road that is going to be built is the bit between Scats and Hambridge road thus allowing even more traffic from the new Racecourse developement to access the Police Station Roundabout. Happy days.

[Ben01635]

Didn't we have a ring road built around Newbury about 10 years ago..... I think it was called the Newbury Bypass!!!!

While no one can dispute that it helped alleviate the traffic at the time, as pointed out by protesters at the time; in 10 years it will be just as bad again! and here we are! - Well in fairness it's not as bad; 12 years ago I was travelling from Warwickshire to Burghclere at weekends and it used to take me 45 minutes to get to the Robin Hood roundabout and a further 45 minutes to get to Burghclere, so it's no where near as bad, but certainly traffic flow through Newbury is a MAJOR problem.

With the bypass built I cannot think of where you would build a ring road that would be easily accessible from both sides of the town without drivers having to go out of their way to get to it, otherwise no one will use it.

The problem I feel stems from the two roundabouts at the Police station and Burger King, if these could somehow be adjusted to either have a slip road off and on or a fly over so that through traffic could continue without stopping then almost all the traffic issues would be resolved. How you would find the space for this though I don't know!

[Phil_D11102]

You add more houses, you increase the traffic. Where would you build such a ring road without going through greenbelts?

A ring road may just have the shoppers going to other locations, thus upsetting those shops already in town.

The traffic is much better than it was before the bypass.

[GMR]

http://www.newburytoday.co.uk/News/Article...articleID=14945

Now I have no particular qualifications or expertise in town planning.

Don't let that worry you, they are all experts on here.... so anything anybody wants to know then some jack in the box will pop up and guide you to the promised land.

[HJD]

Well it's certainly a bit late if you try to leave a comment on the Consultation Questionnaire because you get the following answer :-

This survey is now closed.

[blackdog]

Didn't we have a ring road built around Newbury about 10 years ago..... I think it was called the Newbury Bypass!!!!

The bypass took the A34 through traffic out of town - and is still providing a huge improvement. The choice of the western route meant that lots of traffic to and from the A34 and Thatcham or from the Chieveley junction to and from Basingstoke still comes through town.

Complete the ring with an eastern road and a lot more traffic would be taken out of town - especially if there was an exit for the racecourse.

[spartacus]

If anything, perhaps Thatcham deserve a bridge for the railway crossing more than anything.

It's a major pain, especially now that the Kennet Heath development is fully occupied and so even more traffic crawls over that bottleneck. But a bridge is another one of those pie-in-the-sky projects which will never get off the ground.... The 'level crossing bridge' would have to be massive as it wouldn't just be the railway it would need to cross but also the canal and the river. Quite a span for the approach ramps.. would need several million to see that sort of a project through and those figures will never be found for such a relatively minor road.

[On the edge]

It's a major pain, especially now that the Kennet Heath development is fully occupied and so even more traffic crawls over that bottleneck. But a bridge is another one of those pie-in-the-sky projects which will never get off the ground.... The 'level crossing bridge' would have to be massive as it wouldn't just be the railway it would need to cross but also the canal and the river. Quite a span for the approach ramps.. would need several million to see that sort of a project through and those figures will never be found for such a relatively minor road.

The cost of a bridge is simply an excuse - trotted out by those living 'the other side' who feel they should be immune from consequences of modern world. The cost is really quite cheap - mainly earth works, there are many other examples particularly on the old Southern lines. Appreciate that we in this part of Berkshire doesn't do bridges very well - i.e. refurbishing the bridge in Parkway and the joke that is Blackboys Bridge west of the Station

[Richard Garvie]

I've already said on another forum that with these 10,500 residential units coming online, our focus now needs to be on infrastructure. I don't think a ring road is a viable option, but I do believe the A339 corridor needs improving. The Robin Hood Roundabout needs replaced with something a lot more simpler and effective, my own personal view would be to have the A339 go over the A4. To enable this, we would have to move the fire station and I'm sure there would be a need for other works to make it possible.

I notice that in this consultation "offering more choice" regarding transport options is mentioned repeatedly. If this was genuinely the case, why are we subsidising the bus company by around £2m a year and allowing them to cut services, such as the 11 service which provides late evening services and is the only service to serve the northern streets of Thatcham? What we need is a full review of bus services and who provides them. Does all of the money given to Reading Buses go on services within West Berkshire?

As for rail, I believe that we should be pushing for an hourly fast train for Newbury to London and the South West, with an hourly Bedwyn - Paddington semi fast and an hour stopping service between Newbury and Reading. Station security is a very important issue that needs addressing right now, and I would suggest to network rail that if they install CCTV cameras, surely they could be monitored as part of the West Berks CCTV network? Information is always an issue at are stations, I know that Thatcham and Newbury often have the info screen out of use, and what I can remember Kintbury doesn't have a screen?

Another issue is that of the elderly who live in rural areas not served by public transportation. With the travel tokens gone for these people, they are often left in limbo. One good example is a lady who lives out near Basildon. There is one bus a week from her village for her to go and get shopping etc. If she ever needed to go to the doctors to get something seen too, she can't afford a taxi and would have to wait upto a week to get her issue seen too. With more and more bus services getting withdrawn, we need a solution to ensure that these people are allowed to remain in their homes.

Finally for now, taxi licensing. West Berks have issued arround 300 licences I'm told and the fees get hiked every year. It is an easy way to make money, I accept that. But what I don't think is acceptable is when we have people coming here from Birmingham and Slough to work as a cab driver. Let's enforce a cap on the number of cabs within West Berks, and work with the drivers to ensure that they get a fair deal. In my hometown, I think they have 120 cabs. By having a cab, owners ensure that there is always a driver in each cab and the level of service for residents is more effective. By having no viable plan regarding cabs besides hiking the fees each year and accepting all comers, we end up with a poor level of service for taxi users.

[Richard Garvie]

The cost of a bridge is simply an excuse - trotted out by those living 'the other side' who feel they should be immune from consequences of modern world. The cost is really quite cheap - mainly earth works, there are many other examples particularly on the old Southern lines. Appreciate that we in this part of Berkshire doesn't do bridges very well - i.e. refurbishing the bridge in Parkway and the joke that is Blackboys Bridge west of the Station

What would you imagine the cost of a bridge to be? I think that it would be good to have a bridge, but the main question regarding all infrastructure projects here in West Berks is where is the money coming from? We didn't demand money from developers for the significant infrastructure that we require, and now we have to provide these roads, bridges and buildings after the horse has already bolted as someone else put it. This is another reason why I believe we need a planning review. Why have we allowed all of this development without improving our infrastructure as part of it???

[Bloggo]

What would you imagine the cost of a bridge to be? I think that it would be good to have a bridge, but the main question regarding all infrastructure projects here in West Berks is where is the money coming from? We didn't demand money from developers for the significant infrastructure that we require, and now we have to provide these roads, bridges and buildings after the horse has already bolted as someone else put it. This is another reason why I believe we need a planning review. Why have we allowed all of this development without improving our infrastructure as part of it???

Isn't there £18m of contractors S106 money unspent in the Council coffers that could be used to improve the infrastructure?

[Biker1]

Didn't we have a ring road built around Newbury about 10 years ago..... I think it was called the Newbury Bypass!!!!

While no one can dispute that it helped alleviate the traffic at the time, as pointed out by protesters at the time; in 10 years it will be just as bad again! and here we are! - Well in fairness it's not as bad; 12 years ago I was travelling from Warwickshire to Burghclere at weekends and it used to take me 45 minutes to get to the Robin Hood roundabout and a further 45 minutes to get to Burghclere, so it's no where near as bad, but certainly traffic flow through Newbury is a MAJOR problem.

With the bypass built I cannot think of where you would build a ring road that would be easily accessible from both sides of the town without drivers having to go out of their way to get to it, otherwise no one will use it.

The problem I feel stems from the two roundabouts at the Police station and Burger King, if these could somehow be adjusted to either have a slip road off and on or a fly over so that through traffic could continue without stopping then almost all the traffic issues would be resolved. How you would find the space for this though I don't know!

Yep, we were told it would solve all Newbury's traffic problems !

I hate to say told you so - but told you so!

[Biker1]

The bypass took the A34 through traffic out of town - and is still providing a huge improvement. The choice of the western route meant that lots of traffic to and from the A34 and Thatcham or from the Chieveley junction to and from Basingstoke still comes through town.

Yep, it was built on the WRONG (but cheapest financially) route.

[Richard Garvie]

I think we need a whole new thread on finances ;-)

That £18m wouldn't pay for much.

[dannyboy]

Yep, it was built on the WRONG (but cheapest financially) route.

It may have been the cheapest route financially, but it was also less expensive in many other ways.

[Biker1]

It may have been the cheapest route financially, but it was also less expensive in many other ways.

But DIDN'T solve Newbury's traffic problems!

(I will leave it there - no point in a belated by-pass debate!)

[dannyboy]

But DIDN'T solve Newbury's traffic problems!

(I will leave it there - no point in a belated by-pass debate!)

It never could. The problem is people driving into Newbury.

The A34 is part of TERN - the bypass would have been built regardless of what Rendell claims.

[Biker1]

The problem is people driving into Newbury.

AND people and lorries getting from the A339 Basingstoke Road to the A34 / M4.