For the past 6 months the council have been doing road works in Union Street (it did seem like longer). Now they are finished. The footpaths are wider and there are very clearly marked out bays for the bus stops, taxis, loading bays and bays for Blue Badge holders. (Blue Badge Holders are disabled drivers but I am not sure if you can say disabled any more). Ordinary drivers are not supposed to park in Union Street any more but that doesn't stop them.
In an attempt to stop drivers driving down the street too fast there are ramps like the one shown here every 20 metres. They are made up of little cobble stones and each time you drive over them the bus jumps up as the front wheels meet the ramp, then there are a series of small, rapid and unpleasent bumps, then a thud as the front wheel leaves the ramp. This is all repeated as the back wheel reaches the ramp. All these thuds and bumps are transmitted through the bus to the spine of everyone on the bus, including me. Especially me. I drive down Union Street on average 16 or 17 times a week, 47 weeks a year and I expect to continue driving a bus down Union Street for the next 5 years. There are 6 of these ramps which means I will go over 24 thousand ramps in Union Street during the rest of my working life. That is if my back will stand the strain.
I wonder if the person in the council's planning office did the above sum before deciding to inflict these monsters on us. If he did, will he too drive over them 24 000 times just to prove that doing so will have no long term ill effects on my back. If it does will the council compensate me for any pain and lost of earnings I might suffer? (Sorry, I do like a joke now and then.)
An other problems with these ramps is shown by the person crosing the road. They are designed to invide people to cross the road at the ramp and people do cross the road at these ramps just like the gentleman in the photo, without bothering to look first.
A third problem is that the most comfortable way to drive over cobble stones is, as most drivers will tell you is as fast as possible. Not much good at slowing the traffic down if you ask me.
I wonder how long they will last before they are removed.
1 comment:
I aggree with you on that one mate. Union St looks like some in the Town Hall was looking through a RampsR us catalog and said "they look nice, lets get 6."
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