This is from the Herald Express, just in case you think I am making all this up.
ROADWORKS CAUSE BUS 'NIGHTMARE'
15 February 2008
South Devon road closures are causing chaos on the buses, with double deckers stuck in jams from Brixham through to Newton Abbot.Today Stagecoach bus boss Chris Hilditch said he was tearing his hair out, and added: "A nightmare doesn't cover it."
The closure of the St Marychurch Road - the back road from Penn Inn at Newton Abbot to Torquay - is causing all motorists to squeeze through the busy main route through Kingskerswell.
Stagecoach's 12 and 12A buses, which run the main spine route from Newton Abbot to Brixham via Torquay and Paignton, are caught in the standstill traffic delaying passengers at peak time by about 40 minutes.
Then the buses are forced through diversions because of the harbourside Rock Walk road closures, leaving the bus station in Paignton virtually empty on Wednesday while buses were stranded in a sea of traffic.
Mr Hilditch said he had never known anything like it. He said: "If it had been one without the other we would have coped but the two together has pushed us over the edge."
More road works at Three Beaches in Paignton and near Churston Golf Club - both on the main bus routes - added to the misery.
The problems started when the St Marychurch Road was closed on February 4 for complete resurfacing works that are expected to last for another week.
Mr Hilditch said that traffic has at times 'ground to a halt' on the Newton Road as drivers who normally use alternative routes had to use the main road instead.
"It is an absolute nightmare," he said.
Buses leave every seven minutes on the 12 and 12A routes but passengers were finding themselves waiting for half an hour before a number turned up at once.
Commuters complained that a usual 20-minute journey from Newton Abbot to Torquay town centre was taking more than an hour.
Mr Hilditch said: "All I can ask is for our customers to bear with us. If the traffic is moving then we can come up with ways around it but when the traffic is at a standstill there is nothing we can do.
He said that Torbay Council had worked with the company to find solutions around the problem, but said Mr Hilditch: "I do feel that there is a feeling within the council that it will just go away but this would be an ideal time for them to show themselves to have the ability to sort this out."
He called for more efforts to relieve pinch points at junctions at Castle Circus, Torwood Street and Abbey Road.
Torbay Council's member for transport, Cllr Chris Lewis, said that officers met Mr Hilditch before the work at Rock Walk started to identify potential problems.
He added: "As a result we worked closely with the contractors carrying out the gas works at Livermead to ensure that the scheme was completed as quickly as possible. We also arranged for the trees to be cut back on Shedden Hill so that the bus service could use the diversion route.
"We believe that the service has been running well over the last few weeks but it is unfortunate that resurfacing works have started on St Marychurch Road.
"We are always happy to meet with Stagecoach and discuss any issues that they may have."
4 comments:
"We are always happy to meet with Stagecoach and discuss any issues that they may have."
Yes and we'll have that meeting on, oh let's look it up...ah yes I have a window on Friday the 29th?....
In my opinion, St Marychurch Road (Why IS it called that?), should be a proper road. I'm sure farmers along the route can stand to lose 4 feet either side of the road to make way for a proper thoroughfare. And then a decent link between the top of Barton past Haven and down to the old Newton road.
Certainly a cheaper alternative to a Kingskerwell upgade, and allows a possibility for a bus route from Torquay, through Barton, and onto Newton Abbot, or turn at the top, and intersect with the 12 route and head back to Torquay.
I have never been along this road but since Devon CC have just spent a large sum of money resufacing it they aren't going to widen it, which as you say is a shame.
I do hope Devon CC put a big notice up stating that it is reopenned otherwise traffic will take a week to get down to normal levels on the main road.
"Yes and we'll have that meeting on, oh let's look it up...ah yes I have a window on Friday the 29th?...."
Don't joke!! That's exactly what the Isle of Wight council have done with Southern Vectis. Organised a meeting to see if they can save bus cuts, AFTER the timetables went to print!!!
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