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Saturday 24 November 2012

Traffic calming measures


Since the Bingley by-pass was completed a few years ago, traffic around Saltaire has reached nightmarish proportions at peak times. Saltaire Road, the old turnpike road that bisects the village and heads towards Leeds, is often a solid, slow-moving traffic jam in the morning and evening rush hour. (My photo was taken on a Sunday.) It drives everyone mad and many hours have been spent trying to find a solution. Proposals have even included a tunnel under Saltaire!  They have now decided to turn the roundabout at the top of the road into a traffic-light controlled junction, which will probably make it safer though I doubt it will improve the traffic flow.  They have also introduced 'traffic-calming measures' throughout the village, including a 20mph speed limit and various speed bumps across the side roads.  I can testify that, so far, these measures have made no discernable difference whatsoever! Traffic shows no signs of slowing down when it's not busy and when it is busy 20mph would be an aspirational speed anyway...

The building in my photo is Wycliffe Primary School.

5 comments:

  1. That is a shame that peak hour traffic goes right through the middle of Saltaire. A tunnel sounds the best solution.

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  2. It's interesting they're replacing a roundabout with a traffic light. The trend in this country is to replace traffic lights with roundabouts. Maybe there really is no solution to growing traffic problems.

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  3. 20? That is awfully slow. Around here, the engineers are coming up with many new traffic calming options.

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  4. The 20mph zones here are usually in residential streets rather than the main routes. We used to have signs that said "Twenty is plenty".

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