[Archived] New Road Lay-out For Ewood Area?

[Claytons Left Boot]

... no offence to anyone on here, but i just think darwen is a mini burnley from what i read, they want no re developments, just to be backwards and have no progress.....

Naughty!

A fair proportion of Darwen is a sh1t hole. I don't think anyone can argue with that. A casual visitor driving through along the 666 would certainly think so but if you care to venture a bit further afield there are some nice areas - Sunnyhurst, Whitehall, Bold Venture, Pot House, Blacksnape, Hoddlesden and so on.

Most East Lancs industrial towns are similar and could all be deemed 'mini Burnleys.' I've worked in Darwen, Blackburn, Accrington, Burnley and Nelson within the East Lancs area, Preston and Chorley outside it. They all have their rough areas but equally all have their nicer ones. Quite often it's the folk in a particular town that make the place unattractive, not the town itself.

With regard to you saying, 'they want to be backwards and have no progress', I'm not sure what that means. When you say 'they' do you mean the people in the town or the councillors within BwD? I certainly don't fall into any such category and nor do the people in Darwen that I know.

[thenodrog]

Spot on Gordon, a view shared by many. Talking to a stall holder on the 'old' market two weeks ago, she told me the markets would also be demolished and that the market in the new shopping development would be more cosmetic than fit for purpose.

Just as an addition... the ONLY good shopping experience now in the own is Blackburn Market! It's still a tradition for many and with better products and proper staff is miles better than traipsing around a modern supermarket. The rest of the shops in Blackburn are absolutely awful. With so little quality on display they are the second millenium penny stalls.

The market....... Use it or lose it.

[blue phil]

It's just the thought of finding and paying for a parking space and then wading through gangs of yobs , scruffs and medievalists to get to the market that's a bit off putting , Drog ......

[colin]

But back to the burning issue of a bus lane near Ewood......

[blue phil]

Well go on then , Colin .....do you have something to say on that subject ?

No - didn't think so

[colin]

Phil, Phil, Phil.....................

Your so busy being my nemisis, you're losing it.

If I posted that the sun rises in the east & sets in the west you'd have a pop at me.

I've already made my comment on this thread about the proposed bus lane at the Ewood Triangle.

We've had posts from people blaming Jack Straw, then it went to the Freckleton Street Bridge, Then someone commenting that there's no way a dual carriageway could be built, then there's a diversion into Darweners, then "It's just the thought of finding and paying for a parking space and then wading through gangs of yobs , scruffs and medievalists to get to the market that's a bit off putting , Drog ......"

I've made my contribution to the bus lane topic.

To be honest I just can't understand the crushing & dehabilitating negativity that some people have about everything. It's just a bus lane for heaven's sake. It's nothing. It's a bus lane, it's not an American-owned nuclear power plant & chemical warfare manufacturing plant being built next to Blackburn Town Hall.

Phil, take it easy. And you Thenodrog. There's no need to get angry about everything. Take a chill pill in whatever form you want it.

[cletus]

Went in the fernhurst on Friday night & noticed (whilst walking along Ewood/Bolton Rd) the amount of shops & houses with anti bus lane posters in their windows. The residents of Ewood obviously don`t want it.

[thenodrog]

Phil, take it easy. And you Thenodrog. There's no need to get angry about everything. Take a chill pill in whatever form you want it.

Why do I get the distinct impression with your usual late night posts that you have frequently just taken one yourself Colin?

[blue phil]

I've already made my comment on this thread about the proposed bus lane at the Ewood Triangle.

I've made my contribution to the bus lane topic.

Then be on your way , Sir - your presence here is no longer required

[wilyrover]

There's too many cars on the road. This tells me the cost of running one, or two, or three, as in some families, is too cheap - not too expensive. Time to get rid of them.

Give us our bus lane.

[colin]

"Why do I get the distinct impression with your usual late night posts that you have frequently just taken one yourself Colin?"

"Then be on your way , Sir - your presence here is no longer required."

Theno, Phil,

Thanks for those useful & informative comments on the proposed bus lanes.

[blue phil]

It's a pleasure , Colin .....

[blue phil]

I think that stall's still there ...

[thenodrog]

I will if they still sell glasses of sarsaparilla for 10p

Its gone up a bit.

[Hasta]

It's a bit interesting in that I've yet to read anything positive about this bus lane next to Ewood, despite seeing anything concrete to prove that it will be a bad thing.

I can't really answer that for you. You'll have to go and ask the highways department at Blackburn With Darwen Borough Council

I'm basing my annoyance purely on the proposed Ewood changes. However I have never, ever drove through Ewood except on a matchday and been stuck in any meaningful traffic jam caused by the number of cars. Traffic generally moves quickly. The only possible slight hold up is a bus stopping on Bolton Road right outside Ewood and even then it only affects the cars behind for a few seconds whilst passengers get on and off. I know this because I drive it towards Darwen every morning at rush hour. Now what possible reason is there to re-route the entire traffic up past the Fox and Hounds to a roundabout and then back down. It can't improve the situation at Ewood because there isn;t a situation there! It certainly will not make bus journey times quicker.

I don't know why the council are doing it. however if they had any sense then they would put their astounding reasoning in the leaflet that all local residents got. All it said was that it would make bus journey times quicker. I'd love to know how when there's no delay anyway.

In fact look at the reasonings they give.

• Allow buses to jump the queue (Can anyone see a worthwile queue in this area. The only time saved is if buses can 'jump' the lights at the Aqueduct.)

• Improved crossing for cyclists / pedestrians. (Hardly a big problem at the moment that needs a multi-million pouns solution.)

• Elsewhere it says we get new buses and state of the art bus shelters. They'll last about a week but thats for another thread.

• An interchange facility? (Now here lies the crux of everything on reflection. I'd not really considered this. This could be like a mini bus station at Ewood. This may be a focal point for the whole proposed penine reach scheme. Maybe this facility is needed for the whole scheme in which case say so. Don't hide behind 'improving traffic speed flow thought Ewood. Say we need a bus terminal there and thus need to direct public traffic off that road)

OK, what is it that makes Blackburn so different from the scores of other cities and towns which have introduces bus lanes?

In answer to my comment that the scheme is out of the ordinary for Blackburn, that is because Blackburn doesn't have a scheme like it. Therefore implementing one would not be ordinary for Blackburn.

OK, you think I'm "talking twaddle" about a bus lane. I'll take that one on the chin. (Althought it would be interesting to read about other posters expertise on bus lanes) It's an interesting extrapolation that you think that "I suspect that might be the case with the other issues."

Can you justify that comment? Which of my other comments on other "issues" have been "twaddle."

I didn't say you were talking twaddle other issues. I suspected that you were. This is because you are telling the people who regularly use this area of the road, and are saying there is no problem with traffic, that the proposed scheme is not daft and that we are all moaning for the sake of it. If you think that people are moaning without justification here then I image their could be other issues in which you think the same. If I appeared snappy on the other thread it is because you seem to be treating everyone who thinks this is a waste of time as serial moaners.

Anyway I'll leave the final word to Hyndburn Council who recently distanced themselves from the proposed link between Darwen and , err, Hyndburn.

[ABBEY]

if its owt like the bus lane at whiteburk/range/mc d then it will be a total waste of money,i drive that way every day and have yet(bad timing maybe) to see a bus in the bus lane , it seems to serve no purpose what so ever......and as for the sculpture af a gonad between two bricks...

[scotchrover]

The council have made some poor decisions in the past, however this takes it to a new level.

I live in the marsh house area of darwen and even though i don't live near the main road (which is going to be made into 1 lane for buses and the other for one way cars and vans etc) , something has to be done to stop this TRAGIC IDEA.

I know some of you think the council may actually be listening to people this time because a public consultation has happened but this isn't true. The fact is who actually had a say in the new road system around Darwen town centre apart from the old Labour council itself.I remember leaflets coming around consulting us about the town centre but do you think they ever took notice?

Iam a Darrener and i like everybody in the town except that plank who was in the paper IS AGAINST THE WHOLE IDEA. Iam also sure that many people in the Accrington and Blackburn area feel the same.

Plank in the paper !

Something has to be done and by that i mean a protest march to the town hall at blackburn or something like that.

[colin]

Hasta,

First off apologies. Seem to have made you do a lot of work to give a counter arguement to my comments.

But without meaning to sound patronising ( & I really don't want to.) My posts were just to try and get some rational arguement as to why the bus lane is a bad scheme.

It doesn't take Einstein to realise that, living in Manchester, I don't really care about the issue. I was interested in why everyone objects to it.

Apart from you, no-one has actually managed to put together a cogent reason.

In Manchester there are plenty of bus lanes, the place still keeps going, no business (as far as I know) have gone bust because of them. The buses get from A-B more quickly so people are encouraged to get on them. The bus stops have raised curbs so that people with push-chairs, shopping trolleys, wheelchairs can use the buses. Pretty soon there will a system that will tell people when the next bus is due & where it is going to (much like London Underground & Merseyrail.)

Many of the bus lanes here are only operational at peak hours (such as 7:00am to 10:00am & 16:00 - 19:00) depending on the general flow of traffic. Despite this, most other vehicle drivers stay out of the bus lanes out of these hours which may say rather a lot about your average driver, and perhaps says that vehicles other than buses don't need the road space.

The posters in the windows of local businesses are possibly ill-founded. If the business has unrestricted parking outside and has a lot off passing trade then fair enough. The effect of a single car parked outside a shop will actually have the same effect as a bus lane in that it pushes all traffic into one lane. If there is restricted parking, possibly during peak traffic hours, then there will be no difference.

It's a bit like the Suez canal thing - If it's 25m draft for 99% of its length & 12m draft for the other 1% then it's effectively 12m deep.

Tris

"No - it's been designed by a bunch of good-fer-nowt pen pushing idiots who know precisely sod all about the transport requirements of the local community, and who seem intent on wasting millions of pounds on something which isn't needed - jeopardising dozens of local businesses and causing huge inconvenience to thousands of people.

Just so we're clear on that."

Nelsta

"The problem i find(with buses in general) Is not the cost, But how bloody horrible they are to ride on.Everything from moronic Scally's seemingly throwing at party to business men who feel there laptop is more deserving of a seat than a heavily pregnant lady.

Riding on the bus is just a horrid experience.And one i will avoid at all costs."

Abbey

"if its owt like the bus lane at whiteburk/range/mc d then it will be a total waste of money,i drive that way every day and have yet(bad timing maybe) to see a bus in the bus lane , it seems to serve no purpose what so ever"

Scotchrover

"I am a Darrener and i like everybody in the town except that plank who was in the paper IS AGAINST THE WHOLE IDEA. Iam also sure that many people in the Accrington and Blackburn area feel the same. Something has to be done and by that i mean a protest march to the town hall at blackburn or something like that."

Sorry chaps, those are just view points and opinions, not backed up by any rational arguements.

I'm going to submit this at the end of years poll for the best post. And me for most popular poster.

[adopted scouser]

Shaun, when did you get out ?

[scotchrover]

Right colin the reason why so many people in my area (DARWEN) are upset about the council putting a bus lane through Darwen is because it's going to make the last couple of business that are left hear in the town centre bankrupt. The reason for this is because the "BUS LANE" will run right through the most of the parking spaces in the town centre.

The last time the council changed or better worded demolished the road system in and around the town centre of Darwen (end of 2006), many business lost lots of customers because there was no where to park whilst the council ript the road system apart and changed it.

Manchester is the 3rd biggest city in the UK and Darwen is a small town thats had hardly any investment since it thrown in with Blackburn council to make Blackburn with Darwen Council. To say that a bus lane on the busiest road in the town would work is a complete joke. This idea that you have come up with makes me think people like you COLIN have designed it.

We don't won't a Bus Lane in Darwen as you can see lots of "NO BUS LANE" signs by driving down the proposed road which its going to go on in our town.

Colin you can have that "great" 6 mile bus lane write through the centre of Manchester

However instead of the bus lane lets have a tram system through the towns that are effected.

[Tris]

Tris

"No - it's been designed by a bunch of good-fer-nowt pen pushing idiots who know precisely sod all about the transport requirements of the local community, and who seem intent on wasting millions of pounds on something which isn't needed - jeopardising dozens of local businesses and causing huge inconvenience to thousands of people."

Sorry chaps, those are just view points and opinions, not backed up by any rational arguements.

Maybe, but there is certainly no rational argument for doing what is proposed ...

The barmy scheme to spend millions of pounds to build bus lanes all over the A666 is a joke. The stated aim (in the leaflets they've published) is to reduce the average bus journey between Blackburn and Darwen from 31 minutes to 23 minutes. That's a quote from their garb.

Hardly worth all the hassle and expense, disruption to businesses and residents both during the roadworks and once their hair-brained scheme is up and running.

But what's even worse is that according to the current bus timetables - THE CURRENT TIMETABLED BUS SERVICE BETWEEN BLACKBURN AND DARWEN TAKES 24 MINUTES - not 31! It increases to 25 minutes in the evening peak!!

Are these idiots going to blow tens of millions of quid of our council tax in order to reduce bus journeys by between 60 and 120 seconds!!!!?

Either way there's a train service which takes just 7 minutes between the same two points. If BwD have £50 million to throw away I suggest they throw it at the railway rather than the A666.

They should buy a few of these things and shuttle them between Darwen and Blackburn - they cost less than 1/2 a million pounds each.

[Flopsy]

but how much would the track cost? and what are the gradients like between the two places?

[ABBEY]

Shaun, when did you get out ?

haha

[scotchrover]

Tris Its a great idea. I would support it fully.

[blue phil]

but how much would the track cost? and what are the gradients like between the two places?

The gradients ...!!? Surely you've been between Blackburn and Darwen , Flopsy ? It's hardly Everest