Access Problems Again
Created by sandra brookerOn Tuesday an accident involving a car going into the middle barriers at the traffic lights to Kingsway, meant that traffic coming from the south could not turn right into the village.
Today another accident with a motorcycle and car, again at the entrance traffic lights, caused problems.
Firstly I hope everybody was okay.
How many incidents does there have to be before a second access route is opened? How many houses, occupants and cars does there need to be before anyone takes responsibility?
Are the entrance traffic lights becoming an accident hotspot? At peak times there are queues of cars leaving and entering Kingsway. Sometimes the slip road coming from the North into the village becomes full, and the queue goes onto the main carriageway where cars are travelling at 70 miles per hour…
This will get worse as more houses are built and occupied.
I fear a major smash will happen one day.
Sandra
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March 12th, 2010 at 12:31 pm
Accident on A38 2010
There was another accident on the A38 the other day which I’m sure you are all aware of as it meant getting into Kingsway was a nightmare if you weren’t coming from the Bristol Road end… (Best wishes to all involved in the RTA btw).
My point is, why is there only 1 entrance and exit for Kingsway? To my knowledge there are 3 other routes that could be used but 2 are blocked up and the other is a bus only route.
Now we have all seen on the TV, the ad’ about how we should do 5 miles less in our cars each week (which is a Goverment “lets be green” thing); OK how many miles does it take to get to Tesco to do your weekly shop up and down the bypass? At a rough estimate i’d say 2 miles each way.
If the bus only route was opened to cars (which would only be used by Kingsway residents as it wouldn’t benefit anyone else) I’d say 0.5 miles there and back? The other is at the roundabout (ie: straight over). Yet another thing that would only be used by residents, the other is the road into Tuffley.
Now with over 2000 residents on a large and ever growing estate should there not be more than 1 entrance and exit?
Please anyone with any say in the local authority speak up and get some answers!
[Editors Note: Hi Lee, Thanks for your post. Unfortunately for you, Sandra made a post about the same subject - prior to yours, so I've added your post as the first comment in the thread. Clive]
March 12th, 2010 at 2:27 pm
I agree with both of you, I do (re there should be more than one entrance / exit). However, Lee, I’m not 100% sure about your comment re the government advert. It would be more convenient if the ‘bus only’ route under the A38 would allow cars, but you’ve said yourself that the journey using this route would be half a mile? Even if it was a bit more than this, it isnt far at all. In which case, dont use your car, use a bike or walk instead. That’s certainly what my family and I have been doing for the last few months (and we live right on the other side of the village). Making small changes like this helps the environment, gives you good excercise, and its surprising how much petrol you save over the weeks. Thats more like what the government advert is about. And I know people will come up with all sorts of reasons why they think they need to use the car (some valid I’m sure) but the majority of cases, it’s lazyness. I was certainly one of those people, but you soon get used to the change, and feel better for it.
As I said originally, in principal I agree, there needs to be another entrance / exit, but a reason to make the journey quicker to Tesco doesnt justify using the bus only route.
March 12th, 2010 at 2:36 pm
Making a shopping journey doesn’t justify but how about when there has been an accident on the main bypass?
Since moving here there have been 5x accidents on this main road, normally at the traffic lights. That’s a lot for a short space of time.
How about opening the bus route when there has been an accident? It doesn’t take long for word to get round that access to the estate has been restricted (mobiles etc..) No, it won’t help the ones that are already on the bypass but those with a chance to, can divert under the underpass. Then close it when all is cleared up after the incident.
Looking long term, I don’t agree with speed cameras and feel that this may worsen the situation, but how about a red light camera both ways? This would make people think about automatically slowing down when they are approaching the junction. Possibly enough to avoid another collision.
March 12th, 2010 at 4:31 pm
I was that accident on Tuesday… and yes a 2nd entrance / exit to the estate is needed. However, I don’t think that you can blame the junction design for this particular accident – red light/speed camera’s wouldn’t have helped…
I approached the traffic lights from M5 direction to turn right into Kingsway. Lights were red, so handbrake on, into neutral minding my own business waiting for the lights to change. Green MPV coming from Gloucester (heading towards M5) had other ideas; for whatever reason he made a major steering error, ironically took out the ‘No Entry’ sign before driving head-on into me at pretty much full dual carriageway speed! Amazingly, no blood, no broken bones for anyone (though the MPV driver did leave in an ambulance for more checks, poor chap).
March 12th, 2010 at 8:49 pm
Hi Folks
The access problem is something I am trying to get resolved. To date, I have been given plenty of “reasons” as to why we have only one entrance and exit, but that doesn’t help us. In the fullness of time, we do get a second round the back of the Village too, but I don’t have a date for that opening yet.
If there is an access issue as described above, then use the contractor entrance which is through Waterwells and the Business park, this brings you out at the top end of the village.
In the accident the other month, the bus company did lower the barrier, but that’s only good if you know about it. More worrying for me is the fact that emergency services do not have the right equipment to gain entry under the bridge, though if needed, i hope they would do what others do in riding the kerb.
I know I have not provided many answers on this, but the problem is well recognised and I am doing what I can.
Barry
March 13th, 2010 at 10:54 am
Alternatively, you could mount the pavement and squeeze your car through the bus barrier route as I have seen two vehicle do this last week! I just hope they get the £1500 fine, but I somehow doubt it….
March 13th, 2010 at 4:42 pm
On a slightly off topic note, the Cole Avenue Traffic Lights are an absolute joke now. I collect my daughter from the nursery in Green Farm, and it takes on average 15 minutes to get back to Kingsway. Sometimes the traffic lights for the right turn onto the A38 only let about 4 cars out. Does anybody know who I can make an official complaint to? I can’t turn right because the traffic is usually backed up that way, and it is a box junction, so the only other option is across the lights by the orchard, all the way round Olympus Park to the Tesco roundabout, then up across Waterwells to join back onto the A38 to turn right at the traffic lights into Kingsway – maybe I should be a Smart Car and try to squeeze through the bollard!
March 14th, 2010 at 3:28 pm
I find it incredible that people drive half on the pavement, half on the road to go under the bridge.
My question is why are these people not being picked up on the cameras positioned there and prosecuted? Or is it – as I have been told, the cameras are not being monitored? Yet another waste of council tax payers money.
Re: baz k talking about using the contractors entrance: We are at home most of the day and every morning we have big lorries laden with bricks / scaffolding etc, coming down Thatcham Avenue totally ignoring the no construction traffic signs on the A38 bypass.
I think its about time that the people who have bought their houses here on Kingsway were shown a little more respect by the develepers, and same the goes for Gloucester City Council. After all we pay their excessive wages!
March 15th, 2010 at 10:01 pm
It seems bizarre to me, too, that there are other ways in and out of Kingsway that are blocked off. The worst one being the bus route under the tunnel.
I agree that walking and cycling are brilliant forms of transport, and when I am able I cycle about pulling my 2 little ones in a carriage.
However, I do disagree that shopping is not a reason to open the barrier and that we should all be walking to Tesco. We are at present only a family of 4 and there is no way I could carry back all my shopping on foot or by bike, so I have to drive there. Perhaps the people who are so keen to make everyone walk to Tesco should go and collect all the abandoned shopping trolleys, that are presumably left by the ‘environmentally friendly’ walkers who have no other means of bringing their shopping home.
Has anyone thought of appealing to Tesco and the shops on the retail park to help us get the road open? Those big businesses do hold a lot of clout. And Tesco might do better. After all, by the time you have driven down the dual carriageway, you might as well go to Sainsburys or even Asda just as easily as Tesco.
But the real issue must be the access for emergency vehicles. I however, have no idea where they are based and whether they would need to come that way, but if it is even an option for them it MUST be made available.
Anyway, there’s my 2 pence worth! Thanks for reading!
March 16th, 2010 at 3:06 pm
Hi beckym,
Thanks for joining in
The issue of opening up the road through underpass has been raised on numerous ocassions; sadly the Council Planning Dep’t won’t allow it, (they say that the traffic added to the Matalan road onto the Tesco roundabout would cause severe problems).
Access is available for emergency vehicles (via a key fob system similar to the buses), ‘though a former Kingsway resident who worked for the emergency services was struggling to get sufficient key fobs for all of the ambulances and fire engines stationed in Gloucester and the cost was ridiculous (around £1700 each if my memory is correct)!
The problem of shopping trolleys dumped near the underpass is exacerbated by local kids (from Quedgeley and Kingsway) who like to ride them through the tunnel and leave them dumped all over the place… It is frustrating that people choose to steal the trolleys and dump them like that
Salz,
I agree with you – The traffic lights on the Cole Avenue / A38 junction are a complete joke. Sometimes it takes longer to cross them than to get from them into Gloucester city centre!
Darreng / Tog,
At the recent Police SCT meeting I was told that “non-qualifying traffic” using the underpass will be monitored in the very near future and that fines will be issued!
March 16th, 2010 at 3:12 pm
You have to think of why the route is a bus only route. It’s to encourage people to leave the cars at home and walk, cycle of use the public transport system.
I agree that you cant do your main weekly shop for a family of four walking or biking (unless your family eat next to nothing / you have huge arms), so we sometimes pop into Tesco or Sainsburys when we’re on a journey in the car driving out of Gloucester.
My view is that the bus only route shouldnt be open to cars (unless other routes are blocked for whatever reason) as people should utilise the environmentally sound option, or factor in their main weekly shop when they need to use the car for other journeys (reference to an earlier comment about the government advert). And hence, a reason to open the bus only route shouldnt be because it’s quicker to get to Tesco.
And finally, it’s clearly not the environmentally friendly people dumping the trolleys; the clue is in "environmentally friendly"!
March 18th, 2010 at 2:16 pm
I also dont think that the undrepass should be used, everybody who purchased a home on Kingsway was informed that this road was a cycle/bus route only.
But what I do have an argument with, is the Naas lane link road being closed. When I purchased my home, I was told that this road would be opening as soon as the road was laid. This road has now been laid for about 2 years, and is still not open!
Its not wear & tear/fuel/time that I have an issue with, the issue I hold is that we are constantly having the Global Warming rubbish rammed down our throats, yet something as simple as openeing the link road would save me at least 10 miles a week!
Clive, If the authorities are going to attempt to enforce the underpass, and I believe that anybody mounting the pavement should be done for reckless driving, then they need to get correct signage installed, as none of the current signage is compliant with legislation.
April 26th, 2010 at 10:30 pm
If there is a camera at the underpass, why are not people being fined £1500 every time they use it?
If somehow they are dodging the camera, why not put up another one, or if not working why not fix it?
April 27th, 2010 at 9:02 am
Hi darrjeff,
Baz_k answered that question here: