Plans to increase congestion?

Post by **tyke bhoy** » Sat 26 Jan, 2008 7:51 pm

With apologies for biting the "hand that feeds" but the relevant LCC staff either can't see t'woodfer t'trees or they are involved in a conspiracy the subject suggests.http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?t=k&hl=en ... 0Hopefully the above link will work. You should just be able to see the left hand lane as you look down splits into 2 lanes (pair 1). The 2nd and 3rd lanes (pair 2) remain constant as they act as a filter for a right turn.No cheating now by zooming out before answering these questions.1. which pair of lanes is currently reduced to a single lane by roadworks within 100 yards, has done for several months and will for at least 5 months.2. which pair of lanes is the advertised alternative route due to the aforementioned roadworks.3. which pair of lanes will see an approximate 50% reduction in traffic volume when the aforementioned roadworks are completed (currently scheduled as June)Answer the above correctly and you will see why I am not alone in thinking traffic congestion is deliberately being created. You will also be amazed to hear that the configuration of that junction is of little/no concern to Leeds Urban Traffic Control despite the fact that before the inside lane splits there are regularly cars jumping from lane 3 (outside lane) to lane 1 the inside lane just after traffic lights at he previous, very close, junction.

Si · Post by Si » Mon 28 Jan, 2008 12:06 pm

How to ease traffic congestion.1. Open all bus lanes to all traffic.2. Put a conductor on every bus.Bingo!

wiggy · Post by **wiggy** » Mon 28 Jan, 2008 12:13 pm

Si wrote: How to ease traffic congestion.1. Open all bus lanes to all traffic.2. Put a conductor on every bus.Bingo! simple but effective si,bus lanes are a waste of time,especially the 24 hr ones! and putting clippies back on buses would give a lot of folk jobs too...but i think it was greed that stole them from us in the first place.

Si · Post by Si » Mon 28 Jan, 2008 12:18 pm

wiggy wrote: Si wrote: How to ease traffic congestion.1. Open all bus lanes to all traffic.2. Put a conductor on every bus.Bingo! simple but effective si,bus lanes are a waste of time,especially the 24 hr ones! and putting clippies back on buses would give a lot of folk jobs too...but i think it was greed that stole them from us in the first place. Too true.

LeeRatbag · Post by **LeeRatbag** » Mon 28 Jan, 2008 2:21 pm

Don't get me started. Once upon a time, Belle Isle Road - one of the major routes into the city from the south - was a nicely free-flowing two lane dual carriageway. So, a few years ago, the council deliberately induced huge congestion in the area by shutting off one of the lanes at each side, and dotting speed bumps all the three mile length of the road, including those ridiculously high ones (which reach right across the road, seemingly with the express intent of dislodging cyclists and motorcyclists) before and after Belle Isle Circus. I have to drive that road every day, and when my suspension finally gives out the council are getting the bill. As it is, it's doubled the length of time it takes me to get to work.

Si · Post by Si » Mon 28 Jan, 2008 2:32 pm

Looks like you have got started! Me too. St Anne's Lane used to be a pot-holed nightmare. The council resurfaced it, and then put a series of speed humps across it. Should have saved money and just left it as it was. The speed humps on Otley Old Road in Cookridge sheared off the bolt holding my car's sump fairing on, despite me crawling over them. The next time I reversed, the fairing caught on the ground and was torn off completely. I believe speed humps increase noise and pollution as cars accelerate (within the speed limit, even) and brake between them. Most people who drive like maniacs through built-up areas are precisely that - maniacs, and no amount of speed humps will slow them down. The rest of us get huge repair bills.

The Doggers · Post by **The Doggers** » Mon 28 Jan, 2008 3:27 pm

Well it's interesting, all the materials used to build speed bumps etc could have filled in all the pot holes IMO. But new research shows that the braking/accelerating/braking/accelerating for speed bumps causes more carbon to be released into the atmosphere from the car. Now, as we all know, the councils are the first to step up and show how responsible they are with regards reducing their carbon footprints. Will we now see LCC come out and declare that all speed bumps are to be abolished???I wouldn't count on it....

Si · Post by Si » Mon 28 Jan, 2008 9:14 pm

Just another interesting fact.... your average car is now so carbon efficient, that a top-of-the-range Porsche produces less CO2 than an old (eco-warrior vehicle of choice) Citroen 2CV. I'm not saying we should all drive mega-bucks supercars, but it makes you think......

carrotol · Post by **carrotol** » Mon 28 Jan, 2008 11:01 pm

Yeah, it makes you think that most people who can afford these top of the range cars probably don't live on housing estates which is where speed bumps seem to be.As for the ones on Belle Isle Road........which came first? the speed bumps or the minor injuries unit?Because driving up there (even slowly) isn't good with a child with a broken bone

jf · Post by jf » Tue 29 Jan, 2008 9:20 pm

The ftr buses (currently only used on No.4 route) have conductors, though I doubt they're called something that simple. An effective way of speeding up the service, plus a potential deterrent against vandalism.I'd say we need more bus lanes, particularly along Wellington St, they should have widened the road out during all the redevelopment work to accommodate this. I'm sick to death of it taking 20-40mins to get from one end of this road to the other - mainly because all the traffic coming out of the 'legal quarter' - plenty of 4x4s, porsches etc. If you work that close to the station/city centre bus routes it's pretty selfish to drive.Send the buses down Whitehall rd, up a ramp onto the old Central Station viaduct and over the top of the gyratory on a flyover. Better still to do the same but with rails