Major flaw to experimental road layout in Paignton town centre

By sydneymoore | Thursday, November 24, 2011, 13:37

Finally popped into Paignton town centre today to have a look at the new road layout near Tescos.

The major flaw to the council's experimental road layout in Paignton town centre.

I'd been avoiding it to be honest as was sure it would cause some unneeded traffic jams but after getting a bit of an ear bashing on this here site, I thought I'd better put my money were my mouth is and see it in action.

It had been suggested that everything was fine and the roads were totally clear and that I should apologise to someone called Banny Daker?

Well Mr Daker, while I must admit traffic seemed to be running smoothly and the proposed extra space for pedestrians would be a good thing, on closer inspection I saw a major flaw in the system if this is to become a permanent solution.

Down towards Prontaprint and further along Totnes Road, surprise surprise I noticed a traffic jam forming!

As you can see from the photo I took above, once cars get to the give way dotted lines they now have to wait to join a single lane of traffic causing unneeded congestion.

With a little bit of foresight I can imagine this becoming a lot worse during summer months, especially as some drivers will get frustrated and still drive into the second 'Palace Avenue' lane and try to blend in to the single lane - defeating the whole object of the operation!

Perhaps the road layout could be improved near Prontaprint so that it starts to become two lanes before the give way sign, allowing local shoppers to journey into Palace Avenue unaffected... BUT! I'm not sure there's enough room to do this?

I personally think the council should forget this first effort at improving road safety and perhaps enforce a 20mph speed limit instead.

This would be a much cheaper way to improve road safety - especially as they're using our hard earned cash that we've had to waste on those blasted parking meters!

Re-post Write a story

Ads by Google

Comments

lol, I am sure I can use my insurance, but my point was that the damage occured because of the councils idea to change the layout. yes the driver was at fault but there is not actually the room to drive a coach around that bend witha car in the right lane, If i were behind the coach I would have left room, but he came up beside me and continued to turn in a very small turning area. and referring to the parking outside the halifax its not the parking bays that is the problems but the disabled cars that are allowed to park wherever they like blocking every road I use in Paignton, (nothing to do with the occasional loading van) I dont see a problem with the crossing there, I use it with 4 kids in tow every day. its the fast drivers that make it unsafe.I am all for safety, I drive a lot in the area, and at peak times, and i also walk with 4 children too, so I can see both sides.

By kzgirl9 at 17:01 on 28/11/11
Report
Sorry to hear about your loss of wing mirror. Its never nice to get your car damaged however old it is or how long you have had it. I don't see why Torbay should be paying to fix your car though. Surely that would be paid for by the insurance company of the coach driver as it was the fault of the coach that you lost a mirror and not the fault of Torbay Council (A coach driver would surely know that the back end of his coach swings out when turning so should have taken extra care when turning left)
And now to you Moore (seeing as we have done away with first names or even a polite 'Mr' )
I don't actually believe the scheme was flawed and as far as I saw on a number of occasions it worked perfectly well although with the 'accident' mentioned above maybe they would need to look at adjusting the lanes widths (if possible) to allow for bigger,longer vehicles turning left into Palace Avenue. Lets get the facts straight here,It was done with road safety in mind,to allow pedestrians to safely gather on a much bigger central island. I don't personally see why it would need a 20mph limit there (and in my experience they rarely work) or why it would need speed bumps as kzgirl has suggested. She also suggests no parking on the right but the only parking there apart from the recessed parking bays outside the Post Office is the loading bay outside of the furniture shop which is used by all sorts of delivery vehicles ranging from food to pharmaceuticals to furniture. Where would you suggest these people park whilst unloading ? The space there is wide enough for a parked car/van with enough room for 2 cars to pass is side by side. I don't see that as a problem.
Anyway to address your issue of how it would work in Summer months...EXACTLY the same as the old scheme in Summer months. You had to change into a different lane. Thats it. You wasn't being asked to do a handbrake turn and then reverse your car through a chicane whilst whistling the theme tune to Scooby Doo and solving a Rubics Cube you was simply being asked to change a lane. Even my Nan can do that and she is a rubbish driver at the best of times. Sheesh some people need to chill out

By BannyDaker at 15:40 on 28/11/11
Report
Yes, we are ok thanks, had to follow the coach to chat to him, he was good about it. I agree a speed restriction and bumps would be better, also stop people parking outside the halifax and along there to keep the traffic flowing as that is a major reason traffic slows down, which brings it into one lane there anyway. and going by the temp system the wrong lane.

By kzgirl9 at 13:50 on 28/11/11
Report
Very sorry to hear about this kzgirl. Hope you are all ok and that the council is taking notice of any comments about their recent flawed experiment.

Daker if you read my piece above instead of just making fun of the photo, you would have realised I was not just talking about traffic jams and was more worried about road safety.

Would have been nice if you had addressed my idea about the 20mph speed limit and how this system would work in busier summer months but at least you're not on the council making decisions like this - I hope anyway!

By sydneymoore at 13:47 on 28/11/11
Report
We had an accident for this very stupid road layout last week, we would normally be in the left hand lane but was forced into the right lane by the layout, a huge coach came up right next to our car in the laft lane turning into palace avanue, it was so close i screamed, my baby girl was sat behind me in her baby seat, i said to my husband move the car the coach is going to hit our car and as it pulled off it swung out and the back end hit our car!! it crushed our wing mirror and we pulled away to just avoid the whole side of our car being crushed, we have only had this car for a few weeks as our last car blew up, we have a 7 seater and it is very difficult to find a suitable car for 4 children to fit, we borrowed money from family to get this car!! i was absolutly terrified that it would hurt my baby, it was so close, i would not have been in the lane if it were not for this stupid road layout!! absolutly fuming. typical torbay council idea!! would they like to repair my car???

By kzgirl9 at 12:43 on 28/11/11
Report