Down by the doctors

Local lass · Down by the doctors

whats going on down there does anyone know there is police,ambulance road cloased ,smeonesaid some one was lying in the road.i hope to god that someone hasnt been knocked down as with steve winters being hurt in that area in march there will be a up roar over that road.worse still as its half term its a kiddie some one just imforemed me when they walked past they saw a girl of about ten.is thats true hope to god she is ok

Peter Dolman

I hope that she is ok but its not good news. since the new houses and the traffic calming in Curzon street the amount of traffic in Lickhill Road/North street has grown considerably.

despite there being money for traffic calming in Lickhill road no council has done anything to slowing or restricting the amount of traffic.

I truely hope that no one is seriously hurt, but this is a good reason for everyone to start shouting for something to be introduced!

Local lass

for once peter i totaly agree with you that road has become more dangerous and more busy .
also the speed of the cars dosnt help either.nor does the width of some of the pavements.

i dont thing you could restrict the amount of traffic on that road and they would have to carefull if they do anything on there what would make the traffic in calne snarl worse.however there are some dangeorus points on that road which includ..

By the dpctors,the exit from the doctors is dodgy as it comes out just before the slight bend to the right of the doctors.and you can not see the full lenth

going up the roads towards lickhill on the left the pavement narrows to the extend that it will not take the woidth of a push chair.

the dixon way exit, with dixson way conjested wit cars normally right up the juction its hard for people who has to turn in to dixson way more often than not start turning in then having to break suddenly due to a car coming along dixson way .

north end cars can not turn out that juntion saftley because of the cars parked on the road they can not see.

on the right of that stretch there is no pavement to walk the whole road totaly to be totally safe you have to cross the road about 3 times

braemorroad,jennyroad junction,crazy parking and the accidents speak for there self there.

Local lass

it would be a good reason for people to shout about that road.though why is it people have to get seriously hurt before anything is done.most can bee avoided by using a certain thing called common sence.

Peter Dolman

LL this is another subject we can agree on.
there are problems up the length of North Street/Lickhill Road ie footpaths, parking, drains, communication cables and the width of the road in some places.
There is also the issue of outstanding planning permission which will result in additional traffic. The highways department did not object to the application, another one they got wrong!

Personal I thing that traffic will have to be restricted somehow. There also has to be a review of how that would affect the surrounding road ie Newcroft/Ridgemead, Bryans Close Road etc.

Also not sure if everyone is aware that Lickhill Road was widen by taking a strip of front gardens due to the volume of traffic then.

Now we are considering narrowing the road, funny how things change!

Local lass

either ramps or inlets like they have in london road in chippenham .The only down side to that is people may use the inner streets to avoid it cuasing problems for them.something does need to be done but what?without affecting the inner streets.

win2212

problem with ramps and give way systems like in Chippenham, is that they will all slow the traffic to the point of making a congestion issue - think what it would be like with the rush hour + school run together. Traffic fumes would increase in the local zone, fuel consumption up as well.

We need to make the road safer, which means adjusting parking patterns - stop people from parking at the junction with Dixon Way, and in that set back area near the turning of North End. On the Jenny pub, the hedge to the r/hand side on exit from this road is overgrown reducing visibility for those drivers leaving that road. Also double yellow line the section of road on the other side (North Way junction).

These actions alone (a lot less expensive too) would solve most of the problems.

Calne18

i think give way things would just add to the problems for the town centre's traffic.

Local lass

Yes it will which is why i said there has to be a way to calm the traffic there with out affecting the centre and not pushing it further in to the street.
mine would be to widen the road again we never had any of those problems before that.

Peter Dolman

the only way to widen north street and lickhill road would be to compulsary purchase properties which will be expensive. I will say it again the road has already been widen.
My preferences is to restrict the amount of traffic as was promised by the highways department during the planning enquiry into the byepass.
the current problems had been identified during planning and that promise persuaded some people to withdraw objections to the new road.
if it is made easier to use lickhill then rather than have less traffic there will be ever higher numbers, thats not what we want!

lickhill/north street was neverbuilt to accomodate the number of traffic flows and some of the HGV'S are to heavy for the road(s) and are damaging the utilities below.

what righrts do those living in lickhill road have to park their cars outside their homes.

Local lass

unfortunately peter restricting the amount of traffic will never happen,that is one of the main veins in Calne.by restricting the traffic what goes up there will only push the cars into the estate.
what I don't get if that when they do any new development they use roads what need to be much wider and houses what don't have drives which is daft .People need top drive ,to work,school,where ever they need to go.This wasn't the case years ago as most people worked in the town,now very few do considering how many is in the town.
I know people who live in Studley and work in London and commute every day.most people in town work either Chippenham, Devizes,or else where.

Peter Dolman

Lickhill Road was never planned to be a major road into the town, thats the whole point. the plan was that people would use the byepass. Lickhill road was never designed to take the volume of traffic it is now having to take. there is no way that it can be amended to do so.

there is no easy answer but I believe the only way forward for future generations is for less traffic on the road. I accept that its not something that people want to hear.

Local lass

The planners should have forseen this problem the road may not have been ment as a main road and that people use the by-pass but it hasnt turned out that way.if you are on the north of calne what would you do to get in to town?take the new estate would they go all around the by pass ,get snarled up in the traffic in town or take the road what leads straight in to town.?
peter you live on lickhill road do you take the by-pass to go sainsbury?
also the road also leads to the by-pass .
this is why i say that the planners should have thought about it when it when the houses and roads were built around the north of calne.

Peter Dolman

the planners did consider the impact on lickhill rd and stated that they would not allow it to become a rat run.
The builders of lickhill road of course could not envisage a development of the size that occured. my house was built in 1931.
which set of planners are we criticising?

you cannot ignore the fact that there are to many cars on the road.

I walk, cycle or drive into town via Lickhill Road but why would I not, I have done so for almost 50 years!

There were over 100 objections to the byepass, and to the houses. the county highways department had refused to build it (the byepass) as it was not a priority and that it would not solve the issues of traffic in the town.
So I suppose any traffic planning would have resulted in the byepass not being built!

I CONTEND THAT THE ROAD WAS ONLY BUILT SO SOMEONE WOULD PROFIT FROM THE HOUSE BUILDING!

Local lass

The planners who built the new housing on the north of calne,the planners who narrowed the road by the wheatsheaf there the ones im criticising.

Yes there may be to many cars on the road peter but like i said in a post up above this is due to the fact that many people do not work in the town.A car is a nessecity to most people.

so i take it that you walk into town or cycle you dont do a weekly shop in town?

some people can not do that,more often than not if they do a shop they take the car cos its easier for a start.You can not walk back from town with a weeks shopping.

due to the narrowing of the road by the wheatsheaf as we have discussed on here before it split the town as that is the only road to get into north town.if you live on the south of the town and want to go to sainsbueys ,yes it would be great isf they used the by pass all the way to get on oxford road but i doubt very few do,they would most likly use the narrow road or take the first right on the by pass getting on to the braemor road and lnorthend.

It is A HUGE PROBLEM FOR THE TOWN.

Peter Dolman

the byepass abd curzon are 2 different issues and are unconnected apart from both being traffic issues.

there has been a discussion about what impact the residents of the new estate have in the town and the majority view is that it is detremental. only a small minority have shopped in the town and yes most of them work elsewhere.

yes when I shop I walk, cycle or go by car dependant on how much I am buying and how much time I have.
I never use the byepass unless I am going to Chippenham. I don't have a problem going to golf at Blacklands at worse its a couple of minutes waiting (I would not have to). It sometimes takes longer to get through the traffic lights on the strand.

patience is a virtue after all

Local lass

patience is a virtue peter but sometimes not a practical.When my ex was working in trowbidge we used to get out of calne using the school road ,go to derry hill and get on to sandy lane that way becuase other wise it would take far to long to go through calne at that time of the morning,it was quicker to go two miles out of are way.once you hit sandy land you could be in trowbridge within half a ahour.if you went through calne it used top take over half a ahour just to get through town.

Peter Dolman

sorry but I can't relate to that as it has never taken me more than 5 minutes to get from my home in lickhill road to london road. perhaps I am just lucky, but I have yet to win the lottery.

Calne18

going through the town centre at busy times such as 8ish is really busy and takes ages i have to agree Local lass and i prefer to drive out of my way than sit in traffic which isnt moving!

Maybe jus speed ramps by the doctors because it would slow down the initial speed of the cars but not increase traffic jams??? but i dont know!

win2212

So am I not the only one that uses the bypass even though its further round, but at least you are moving. And with the exception of hybird cars, and cars with engine Stop-Start, the rest of us will use less fuel when we keep the car on the move compared with sitting in traffic. What I do is think about what time of day it is. If I know its going to be packed with cars down town, I take the bypass. But if its another time, I may go straight down Lickhill road/North St.

Most people drive these days. They dont walk, and its mostly only kids that use push bikes. If you have an economical car, you may as well drive - even a short distance, as it wont cost hardly anything (I know about this since I downgraded to a smaller car!), and all but one car park in Calne is free.

Part of the increase in traffic is due to the St Marys School having their entrance/exit in North End, leading to Lickhill Road. Its like the invasion of 4X4's some days along there.

The issue with curzon St is not related to Nort St/Lickhill Road, but the reason for making the road more narrow, was to get local drivers to use the bypass. The idea was that if people did this whenever poss, there wouldnt be much traffic in Curzon St. Trucks, for example are forced to do this now, apart from deliveries. So with less traffic in this stretch of road, you may as well widen the path to make it safer for people walking along there.
......the problem is that car drivers insist on still going through the town, when most of them should be using the bypass.

GTB

Derry Hill is one example of how to seriously annoy car drivers in their attempt to slow the traffic down. People simply drive round the humps and remain at a pre-hump speed. I haven't met one resident yet who thinks they are a sensible way of traffic control. Perhaps Calne can learn a lesson here.

Local lass

The issue with curzon St is not related to Nort St/Lickhill Road, but the reason for making the road more narrow, was to get local drivers to use the bypass. The idea was that if people did this whenever poss, there wouldnt be much traffic in Curzon St. Trucks, for example are forced to do this now, apart from deliveries. So with less traffic in this stretch of road, you may as well widen the path to make it safer for people walking along there.
......the problem is that car drivers insist on still going through the town, when most of them should be using the bypass.

In a way though it is related because if they never did that narrow then town wouldnt get so snarled up and north end wouldnt have become such a main vein of calne.

Biggles

your last comment about the road narrowing LL is spot on thats whats added loads to the volume of traffic down that road
.

Local lass

of corse it does biggles cos even those who do live from bryans close road will use that road to get up to the by pass to get on the a4.