A local Resident makes a persuasive case for protecting Hearsall Common from intrusive bus lanes. Do you agree?“There are applications currently under consideration to make Hearsall Common a ‘town green’, protecting it from future development. Council-backed PrimeLines is already digging up part of the common for a bus lane and gate, having overridden residents’ opposition to do this. They were also going to drive a new road through the common next to Earlsdon Avenue North, but this had to be put on hold because of the application. Contrary to leader Ken Taylor’s claims, Council minutes state that if the application fails, this proposal will be revived. This is why we want Hearsall Common registered as a green.”
Dr Richard Austen-Baker, Chapelfields
6 comments:
Actually, if anything is 'intrusive' on Hearsall Common, it is the road itself that already exists. If anything should be done, it should be to encourage public transport with a bus lane to reduce traffic along the road.
As it is next to the road, the common is already subject to traffic noise & pollution so why not reduce this? This is the more important issue, rather than sentimentalism for the common or supposedly 'green' policies to avoid intruding on the common. Public transport improvements would be a much better 'green' policy.
I totally agree with the above, despite living close the Common.
Thank you for your comments.
It has not been proved that introducing a bus lane through Hearsall Common will reduce bus journey times.
I support measures to make public transport more attractive. However wasting money on a gradiose project like this is not the way. The money should instead be used to invest in better buses, cheaper tickets, and more frequent bus journeys throughout the day. That is the proven way to increase passenger uptake - just look at London's experience.
I thought the Primelines scheme was funded by government grant money?
I know you are not local but a lot of buses use the common and it will make a difference especially in the mornings.
I have lived in Coventry all my life. Unlike many graduates, I have decided to stay and contribute to the city of my birth.
My father emigrated from India in the 1960's to the UK and found a welcoming home in Coventry. He worked on the city's buses for 20 years, supporting his wife and family before his premature death.
Like every other citizen of Coventry, I am well qualified to talk about local issues such as public transport which affect us all. And from my experience, people are not clambering for extra bus lanes. Two thousand local people who signed the petition against this proposal are testament to the fact.
People want more affordable buses, cleaner better buses, and more frequent buses. Getting these basics right will make the real difference.
The only way that we will have more people using public transport is if it's on time, if it's clean, if it's cheaper, and if it's quicker.
The bus lane proposal only deals with the quicker part.
I'm in a bus coming up Earlsdon Avenue North towards Hearsall Common. I may have to wait, what, 20-30 seconds extra if there is congestion between Broomfield and Hearsall Lane.
Instead of a 19 minute bus journey, it's a 18 minute 30 second bus journey.
That's not the kind of improvement in speed that will get people leaving their cars at home.
What would improve bus times everywhere in Coventry, not just on one stretch of the 12, is having fewer cars on the road.
Then, a 19 minute journey becomes a 15 minute journey. Two 19 minute journeys with a 5 minute wait in between, become 35 minutes in total.
That's not anti-car, that's pro-mobility, mobility to get to and from school, to get to and from the shops, to get to and from job interviews if you're on JSA.
Post a Comment