The people of Wyken will have to endure months of roadworks while all the trees are cut down along Ansty road, and the road widened in order to facilitate his unwanted Bus lane. It seems Jacobs Babtie, Centro and David arrowsmith are a law unto themselves with no regard for the people of Coventry's wishes or the law (closure of lane & suspension of parking without proper legal procedure in order to take core samples)
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"If we invest in new showcase bus routes then centro will provide new state of the art buses"
RUBBISH! the EU has already stated that "buses" must conform to their standard, I.E. German built "Bendy buses", showcase bus route or not!
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"the new bus lane will only slow down traffic by 5 seconds"
OH REALLY! Two lanes cut to one, bus priority through traffic light etc
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"The Hospital will benefit from improved bus services"
The hospital bus (17 & 27) do not go down the Ansty Road
Just look at Binley road and see whats in store!
Update: Dec 2004
So the truth is now coming out, Councillor Arrowsmith realises we don't want the bus lane and has now passed the buck.
Alastair Darling MP in fact has decided to spend the £42 million of taxpayers money on our showcase bus routes. His (the EU's) wonderful idea is that every major city in England will have five showcase bus routes whether or not we need them.
It's your money so you decide.
update : Jan 2005
Received your primelines December newsletter? what a pack of lies and deception
first paragraph "we sent a leaflet inviting you to a series of consultation meetings".
complete lie a pamphlet looking like new bus timetables was sent to some houses and did not invite us to any consultation but just showed what was going to happen.
second paragraph "the council having listened to the 2000 signature petition still agree to the bus route"
LIE the council voted against the bus route but were told by Councillor Arrowsmith that it would go ahead "Even if everybody in Coventry signed against it".
"We believe that views of local residents are vital" - So why are you not listening?
Oh and has anyone asked the users of the road their opinion?
Primeline: "Buses have difficulty pulling out into traffic"
There is only one bus "bay" on the whole stretch of Ansty Rd by the Walsgrave Telephone Exchange. Buses have no problem pulling out anywhere else on the route and in fact block traffic.
Key issues raised.
Concern: A single lane will create problems!
primeline reply "traffic modelling shows a single lane will cope and due to constraints at other points" (Ball hill, The forum & other places which can't be improved) "there is spare capacity." So why do busses need their own lane?
Oh because of illegal parking. " Anecdotal evidence (no evidence at all) suggests that this brings the road down to one lane already and has no effect."
Rubbish! the effect is quite dramatic inbound from the hospital island and tailbacks at peak times are horrendous but instead of sensible parking arrangements allowing cars to park off road we get parking tickets every twelve months or so. (Parking is only restricted 7am to 9am inbound) and is not illegal the rest of the day
(Due to the fact that the fine if challenged in court is to much for a magistrate to decide upon it means hiring solicitors and going to crown court which is too expensive so the fine is paid.
Something Primeline may not be aware of and the council and West Midlands Police may be conveniently forgetting is that householders along certain stretches of Ansty Rd own the land upto the kerb, it is not public property. The builders of these properties agreed that right of way be given in return for maintenence. Therefore parking is on PRIVATE land.)
Primeline "We are working with Wyken Croft Primary School to develop a school travel plan"
Complete lie - NOBODY has been in touch with ANYONE at Wyken Croft School regarding travel plans
Concern: None of the hospital buses use Ansty Rd
Primeline "the 704 will use it"
The 704 is a TESCO shoppers bus linking the new TESCO to the old TESCO and is not a specific hospital bus, furthermore it will only use a short section of Ansty Rd between Sewall Highway and Clifford Bridge. The residents of Sewall Highway are not too impressed with another bus by the way.
Concern: The main problem is Far Gosford St, Ball Hill, Forum etc..
Primeline "Ball hill & Far Gosford St are subject to urban renewal studies"
You can study the areas above as much as you like. You can't widen the road without knocking down peoples houses or businesses. The forum isn't even being looked at.
More money will now be wasted on newsletters, council visits, feasability studies, core sampling etc.. but at the end of it all it appears the council have no say and the proposals will just go ahead.