Traffic issues meeting
It was strange, after spending over an hour hearing about the congestion, speeding, danger at junctions, difficult pavements and the impossibility of ever finding a place to park, to walk out on to a peaceful village scene with car parking spaces clearly available and hardly a vehicle in the road. The most sensible remark I heard was later on in the day from someone who had not gone to the meeting – “So? It’s a busy village!”
There are, of course, problems, one or two of them serious, most of them mere inconveniences. In my opinion, and you may think otherwise, the worst problems are:
The deadly walk down the Crewkerne Road by Natalia Terrace which mercifully, if belatedly, is being addressed.
The blocking of Bull Lane by cars parked near the junction with Dorchester Road. This is serious because the Fire Engine sometimes cannot pass and it forces pedestrians into the middle of a narrow, pavementless road.
The unsatisfactory “traffic calming” in Dorchester Road near Frome Lane. I think the planners did their best here but it is a very difficult one to get right. At the moment people have to cross the road twice or shuffle along the sections without pavement. Perhaps this needs looking at again.
I do not believe that speeding is anything other than an intermittently serious problem except for the Crewkerne Road at FV.
Despite the popular conception I do not believe that parking is a serious problem in the village except for those with no off road parking and parking restriction near their house. I have lived right in the middle of the village for years and do not recall ever being unable to park within 150 metres of my house. 90% of the time I can park right outside. The general consensus that the car park is always or, at least often, full is just plain wrong. I don’t particularly mind if it is enlarged a bit but only on the basis of real evidence of real need. Not guesswork and perception. (Naturally, just to prove me wrong, two camper vans have taken up residence there managing to fill four spaces. Hey ho). However parking could become a serious problem if double yellow lines started spreading as was suggest by a few at the meeting (all people with off road parking themselves, by the way).
There are, of course, problems, one or two of them serious, most of them mere inconveniences. In my opinion, and you may think otherwise, the worst problems are:
The deadly walk down the Crewkerne Road by Natalia Terrace which mercifully, if belatedly, is being addressed.
The blocking of Bull Lane by cars parked near the junction with Dorchester Road. This is serious because the Fire Engine sometimes cannot pass and it forces pedestrians into the middle of a narrow, pavementless road.
The unsatisfactory “traffic calming” in Dorchester Road near Frome Lane. I think the planners did their best here but it is a very difficult one to get right. At the moment people have to cross the road twice or shuffle along the sections without pavement. Perhaps this needs looking at again.
I do not believe that speeding is anything other than an intermittently serious problem except for the Crewkerne Road at FV.
Despite the popular conception I do not believe that parking is a serious problem in the village except for those with no off road parking and parking restriction near their house. I have lived right in the middle of the village for years and do not recall ever being unable to park within 150 metres of my house. 90% of the time I can park right outside. The general consensus that the car park is always or, at least often, full is just plain wrong. I don’t particularly mind if it is enlarged a bit but only on the basis of real evidence of real need. Not guesswork and perception. (Naturally, just to prove me wrong, two camper vans have taken up residence there managing to fill four spaces. Hey ho). However parking could become a serious problem if double yellow lines started spreading as was suggest by a few at the meeting (all people with off road parking themselves, by the way).
posted by John at
11:27 am
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