Endless queues in Stratford town centre
STRATFORD has ground to a halt.
The roadworks on the A439 which have brought Stratford town centre to a standstill have this week been described as “absolute chaos” by Stratford Town Transport Group (TTG).
Endless queues not just during rush hour but throughout the day aren’t doing any favours to the district council’s pledge to reduce the total emissions in the district by at least 55 per cent by 2030, that’s not exclusively traffic but it is a significant contributor.
Just a few days after Warwickshire County Council announced that major roadworks on the A439 would run until the end of June, Colin Stewart, chair of Stratford Town Transport Group, made representations to the council offering alternatives about how the scheme could be managed.
Mr Stewart said: ”As chair of the TTG, I questioned why the works had to be done in this way, and whether “roadworks delay and environmental impact modelling software” had been used to arrive at a satisfactory solution, I don’t have a response to this yet.
In my view a better alternative - if Warwick Road had to be reduced to one-way – would be to make it one-way northbound. This would reduce congestion in the town and allow southbound traffic towards the town to be directed to the Park & Ride, where a further package of measures, including free parking, free bus journeys, 7 day working, and additional buses together with ramped up advertising, could help.
A further option would be to construct a temporary connection for the last 30 metres of the recently constructed Shottery Relief Road, to act as a temporary diversion route for northbound traffic. Temporary works are often constructed for major roadworks.”
Solutions to Stratford’s transport headache are being discussed but it appears to boil down to that familiar expressive favourite – joined up thinking – as Stratford District Council leader, Cllr Susan Juned, (Liberal Democrat, Alcester East) explained.
“We have had an initial meeting with the leader of the county council, cabinet members and officers to see what solutions are available and while this is a county council matter and it needs to put Stratford’s case to government to find the finances for a proper solution. We’ve got to get everybody around the table including the Department for Transport because Stratford is an historic, international town.”
The Herald asked the district council leader who would take responsibility for inviting a representative from the transport department to sit down at that table?
“It is a county council matter but I would be happy to write that letter and if I can convene a meeting I will. We’ve got to work together and find a solution which includes our commitment to the environment and reducing pollution,” Cllr Juned said.
A county council spokesperson said: “Traffic counts have been taken for the A439 Warwick Road. Our engineering design services team have been looking at traffic modelling scenarios for the A3400 Birmingham Road to help inform decision making and ensure that the delivery of highway schemes are balanced against the impact these may have on traffic in the area.”
In addition, the Warwick Road project is scheduled to last five months and not six as displayed on yellow road work signs in town.
There’s also better news for motorists regarding resurfacing on Birmingham Road planned for the 11th February. The county council has confirmed the work will not overlap with the start of the works on the A439 Warwick Road but discussions are ongoing regarding the timing of the Birmingham Road Project.
