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Posted by nick storer to swanage view
Wednesday, August 17, 2005
Studland Road
We took a bus to the end of the Ferry Road last night to eat at Shell Bay. If the bus driver had not “jumped” the queue the bus would have been stuck for ages and missed several ferry crossings. Cars had to duck into the occasional parking space to allow the oncoming wrong sided bus to pass. I understand that the whole affair is a nightmare for the bus drivers.This morning I cycled in the same direction and the car queue for the Studland beach began in the village!Surely some simple solutions would be to widen the road where vehicles wait to turn right into the main beach car park so other cars etc could pass. To remove the hard shoulder car parking say 1/2 mile from the ferry on one side to make a "bus lane". Maybe electronic warning signs at Norden, describing car parking, and waiting times to encourage people onto the train to Swanage and out to Studland on the prioritised bus?
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Posted by nick storer to swanage view at 8/17/2005 02:58:32 PM
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Posted by nick storer to swanage view
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2 comments:
That's interesting Nick! The line starting at Studland... What will make it much worse is that the road to Wareham is surely due for another covering of flinty stones for a road covering.
I could never understand why the roads out through Wareham Forest are of such high quality, compared with the local roads in and around Swanage. If we get another load of chippings? Then the idiot that orders it, should be made to drive up and down it all day long....
I wonder if the council could be sued for a chipping damaged car?
Dancing Ledge
Queues on the ferry road continue to grow year on year and bus drivers and other essential users of the road now find the situation almost intolerable. The local RMT (trade union)branch, told the management of the bus company earlier this year, that the drivers would not use the dangerous practice of running down the wrong side of the road anymore.
As the Road Traffic Act applies to this stretch of private road, the driver could be in real trouble if an incident occurred. However can you imagine what would happen to the bus service if they didn't skip the queue now and again. the bus company would certainly withdraw the service if no-one wanted to take two or more hours to get to sandbanks. Putting the drivers out of work (Swanage Bus Garage would close without the route 150 cash), Swanage residents without a link to B'mouth and the whole community worse off. Say thanks to the drivers next time you see them for the risks they run on your behalf.
On the ferry road generally there are so so many competing interests that one wonders if the new bylaws and proposed parking restrictions will really work. The ferry company wants the income from all those day trippers so can't really be expected to want fewer people using the ferry which would result from warning signs in corfe or where-ever they might be sited.
Widening roads is ok-ish but watch the NT and others go ballistic at the prospect of more habitat loss.
Any one who read the Transport Plan for Purbeck earlier this year will have noted how fiendishly difficult it will be to sort out all the problems.
My own favorite idea is for a raised monorail running from Norden to Shell Bay. Just can't think where to get the millions to do it...except a 4000% increase in second home council tax, but that's a whole other bundle of fun.
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