Updated: Don’t take away our views for buses (From Echo)
Get involved: send your pictures, video, news and views by texting ECHONEWS to 80360, or email us »
Updated: Don’t take away our views for buses
8:00am Tuesday 30th June 2009 in
UNHAPPY residents want council chiefs to make U-turn on controversial plans for a new bus lane on the A13.
The proposal is part of the £6million scheme which aims to cut congestion on the busy stretch of road between Sadlers Farm roundabout and Southend.
Cabinet member for transport, Norman Hume, will make the decision in July, despite a 500-strong petition lodged with the county council and House of Commons against the lane, planned between Park Chase, Hadleigh, and Tattersall Gardens, Leigh.
If it goes ahead 3m of a 12m grass verge will be lost, along with many mature trees.
Gwen Hall, 53, of Church Road, Hadleigh, who started the petition, said: “There is a really strong feeling in the area that people don’t want this to happen. They don’t see the point of it. I’m praying we are listened to and the right thing will be done.”
The proposals also include scrapping the mini roundabouts at Tarpots, replacing them with traffic lights and banning right hand turns from the London-bound A13 into Rushbottom Lane.
Carol Bigault, 68, of Woodside Road, Hadleigh, is also strongly opposed to the plans and wrote to the leader of Essex County Council, Lord Hanningfield, about her concerns.
She said: “The view looks out over the Salvation Army land then further on, over the Thames and on to the Kent coast.
“It’s breathtaking.
“I am astonished this idea even got off the drawing board because of the importance of this unique view. The mature trees are a sight to behold and in the springtime the daffodils are worthy of Wordsworth’s poetry.”
County council spokesman James Henderson said: "Public consultation tookplace through exhibitions in February.
"Although every effort will be made to facilitate a decision in July we feel it's important to take the time necessary to review and consider all the responses received through the consultation process and address those issues."
Comments(10)
margrete
says...
10:30am Tue 30 Jun 09
Every tree is precious. A mature oak tree, for example, is home to more than 400 different species. All these species are precious.
At some times the planners seem to have appreciated this. There's a place along the A127 with a stand of mature oak trees, the road branches off to the left and the busy arterial road on the right. It's like a green lung among all those traffic noises and smells.
Moby
says...
12:13pm Tue 30 Jun 09
So, why are there so many private vehicles on this section of the A13 when there are numerous bus routes running regularly along the same stretch of road?
The answer is simple; people don’t like using them for a number of reasons. They don’t like paying high prices for them and, if they are irregular users, they don’t get enough information regarding where the routes go to and from. I’ve also found the drivers are less than helpful if you get on a bus to ask if they go where you want to go to.
I have lived in the area for 26 years and I haven’t got a clue where Bournes Green so how do I know if that is the bus I need to get me to the town centre?
Then, if you widen the road at the Salvation Army area of the A13, with the resulting loss of trees and grass verges, what happens to the bottleneck between there and the Hadleigh one way section which cannot be widened or laned off? Also will the bus lanes end at the Southend border or will they be an integral part of Anna Waite’s new rapid Transit System (just more buses apparently)
If public transport was made cheaper and a lot more user friendly it would help reduce the number of private vehicle journeys which would in turn allow the buses to run more efficiently without the need for a bus lane or further destruction of greenery.
Ian P
says...
12:22pm Tue 30 Jun 09
Years ago there were traffic lights at Tarpots but the mini-roundabouts were introduced because the powers at be thought the lights did not maintain adequate traffic flow. What has changed to make lights the right solution now? Perhaps pedestrian bridges rather than two sets of pedestrian lights close together would help. However, unless something serious is done east bound at the Kentshill Road junction, no solution at Tarpots will ever work. It will be Rayleigh Weir and Progress Road all over again, just moving the bottleneck a short distance up the road. Do the Planners not learn anything?
Beano
says...
1:07pm Tue 30 Jun 09
bob7
says...
1:32pm Tue 30 Jun 09
, and then reverse into a driveway so you can pull out again facing the right way. If the bus lane takes up some of that pavement it would mean pulling in nose first and then reversing out which is against the highway code. Also if you have a long vehicle you will have to swing back into the road to reverse into your drive. The so called drop kerbs are in the wrong places as well so you have to use one you can get to even if it isn't in front of your drive.
As for using public transport, I can't use it to get to work as it does not run where I want to go or start early enough anyway.
responsible1
says...
3:30pm Tue 30 Jun 09
Curbishly
says...
4:32pm Tue 30 Jun 09
perini
says...
11:55pm Tue 30 Jun 09
siddymint
says...
6:48am Wed 1 Jul 09
More Leigh stories
- Car crash in Leigh
- Robbers knock woman unconscious in Leigh street
- CCTV of suspected burglar
- Vandals slash car tyres
- Builders’ vans are clogging up Leigh street
- Store plan could be given go ahead
- Man trapped on barge at Leigh marshes
- Car stolen in Leigh
- Homeless flee Southend after wave of attacks
- Car crashes into front of Leigh house
Residents fight plans to build a bus lane
Most popular
Local Information
Enter your postcode, town or place name
Russ13 says...
9:47am Tue 30 Jun 09
That part of the A13 down to Sadler's Farm is a nightmare during peak times so surely the view would be better with the traffic moving freely as opposed to a car park of buses & lorries?
Perhaps the bus lane could also be used as a car share lane too and go further towards getting the traffic flowing better and improving air quality in the area?
Trees & daffodils can be re-planted and while the trees are establishing themselves there'll be better views of the estuary......