Page 14 - link magazine

Taw Hill transport trouble
Residents of Taw Hill are campaigning to stop buses and HGVs from using Queen Elizabeth Drive South, which, they say, is not fit for use by such
vehicles as they are causing a dangerous road safety hazard.
The Taw Hill campaign group, roundabouts in the wrong direction
which is supported by 96 per cent of because there is no room for them to
residents on the southern section of cross them correctly. There’s clearly
Queen Elizabeth Drive, met Swindon an accident waiting to happen, and
Council officers in July, but feel that this is made worse by the prospect
they are not being taken seriously. of Thamesdown Transport increas-
Expressing his frustration, cam- ing the frequency of the buses to
paigner Brian McLean said: “The every 20 minutes rather than every
roads are so narrow here that buses 30 minutes.”
travelling in opposite directions Explaining the history of Queen
habitually have to mount the kerbs Elizabeth Drive South Brian said:
and carve up the grass verges to avoid “The council have known about
taking each other’s wing mirrors problems here since 2001 and even
off. They also have to navigate mini An everyday occurrence on QED. Photo: Brian McLean designed a bus route serving Taw
Hill that avoided it. In 2005 they
promised to limit the use of QED
South by HGVs. They then forgot
the agreement and the bus companies
just ran their buses anyway because
the council neglected to put in the
necessary restrictions.”
Specifying the demands of the
campaign group, Brian said: “We
are asking for buses and HGVs to
be re-routed so that they continue
to serve Taw Hill, but do not travel
along Queen Elizabeth Drive South.
We want buses to come in and out
of Taw Hill at Junction 9, and then
leave via Junction 10. We want to stop
having to maintain the grass verges
ourselves, or see our council tax mis-
spent on repairing needless damage to
the roadsides. Most of all, we want
to remove the risk of accidents caused
by inappropriate use of the roads.”
Swindon Council leader Cllr David
Renard said the council would be
applying for a traffic order to ban
HGVs on Queen Elizabeth Drive,
but believes a bus service has to be
maintained. “A large number of
people live in or close to the present
bus route and I believe it’s our duty
to ensure they have the option of ac-
cessing a bus service.
“I’m certainly willing to review the
state of the road and consider what
investment is required to make it safer
but I wouldn’t support a total removal
of buses from that part of Taw Hill.”
Responding to complaints in sup-
port of the campaign Thamesdown
Transport managing director Paul
Jenkins said: “We would like to see
the road widened, but that is a matter
for the highway authority and in the
meantime we consider it safe for our
use. Unlike most small vehicles, buses
are driven by professional drivers.
Safety is our highest priority and we
would not operate along a road where
the risks were unacceptable.”
14 swindonlink.com • October 2013

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