The CRA are meeting with our local councillors on Monday
Keep your comments coming….
Time to get this sorted. Please comment below…
Wednesday 19th was the busiest day on our site ever
The pink block refers to the time of our election question time when all the candidates supported our ideas to improve Camden. The blue block refers to the activity since the crash outside Prospect Place.
It’s dreadful, since the risk is not only to cars but also – chance being what it is – to pedestrians on the sidewalks.
A few days ago, while waiting for a bus, I saw a car doing what must have been at least 50 mph.
These speeds not only increase the likelihood of accidents but also their lethality. I can’t help feeling that a couple of yellow box speed cameras is a price worth paying.
Can we get speed cameras installed? Or maybe speed indicators, if they are cheaper and so easier to make the case for.
Yes, they’re £3,000 each. We’ve had one trialled last month and we are still awaiting the data.
Thanks, David. The stretch from Coburg Villas up to 20 Prospect Place seems to be an open invitation to speed in either direction after slower one-way chicanes. I commissioned the highways engineers to give us a two week trial of a speed reminder sign on this stretch of road last month. At their own behest they decided to site it at Camden Crescent. They have never explained why nor are they giving me the speed data. Making progress by being cooperative with the Council is frustratingly ineffective.
I have walked along that pavement regularly for many years considering it to be safer than the other side where there is a danger of being struck by a passing wing mirror! This short stretch needs a priority route sign from west to east such as in use in St John’s Road so that there is no argument as to whom has the right of way.
Thanks, Malcolm. We have the same habit as you regarding the choice of pavement and we’re drawing up a scheme much as you suggest for the whole road. In parallel we’re trying to interest the council in making Camden/Walcot a ‘Low Traffic Neighbourhood’ which knocks out through traffic other than maybe buses.
The increase of trucks and coaches is a concern given the accident in Weston, Bath 4 years ago. I still have major concerns about Bennett’s Lane given a nursery is sited there.
Using Bennett’s Lane as a pedestrian is an act of faith every time. It feels less threatening when the traffic is ascending rather than descending.
Our previous car was hit 3 times in just under two years: on Gays Hill, UCP and City View. Safety comes before cost but the latter is galling especially as insurers treat these as at-fault claims with no other party identified. I no longer try to park on any of the narrow stretches of CR.
Thanks, Tim. I’ve lost a wing mirror too – minor in comparison to your experience. I think there must be others too. It would great to build up a log of these as evidence to support some change to Camden Road.
Pavement encroachment – all part of the same issue. Some of it occurs when vehicles confront one another, bumper to bumper and use the width of the pavement to squeeze past one another. At other times it seems to be for loading as in the graphic above. I’ve seen people feeling very threatened by a bus doing it with the driver just shrugging his shoulders as if to say this is and, what else can I do?. Others park with two wheels on the pavement thinking that somehow it helps passing traffic – it doesn’t. And it ruins the pavement.
Some suggest bollards, others suggest raising the height of the curbs to standard heights (which they should be) which makes it much more difficult to drive onto the pavement.
I was sent a photo today of a delivery van parking on the pavement when there was plenty of parking bays on the other side of the road!
On behalf of another committee member:
I’ll throw this in as well. I was with my son and we were crossing the bottom of St Stephen’s Road towards Camden Crescent. A driver going in the same direction and turning right onto St Stephen’s tooted at us and told me that I have should looked both ways, which would have meant looking over my shoulder. He was making a hard right off Camden Road whereas, as the road markings show, the correct procedure is for cars to move to the centre of the intersection before turning right so that they can see any traffic coming down St Stephen’s Road and will be clearly visible to pedestrians coming from both directions.However, the road markings are almost worn away and partly obscured by an old paint spill. It probably doesn’t help that rush hour traffic tends to drive over these markings as they try to allow oncoming traffic to pass so the wear on them is probably greater than is usual..
So please can we request that the road markings are renewed and the spilt paint removed on the grounds of safety and potential enlightenment of the more entitled motorists. On the low traffic neighbourhood: the key idea is eliminating through traffic (as far as possible). Can we do this on Camden Road? How could it be done? Does it require us to look beyond our neighbourhood?
Thanks for this. We asked for road re-marking in our report published in 2018. St Stephen’s Road is a notorious and inappropriate part of the north south rat run as explained in the same report. This needs to be in scope.
And on behalf of another resident on Prospect Place…
Jeremy, I just wanted to thank you (all) for stepping up so quickly to try and implement some effective traffic lowering mechanisms along this road. I’m in favour of bollards and strategically placed planters (would be happy to help maintain those) to really slow things down. As you say though, logistics tricky given the road’s foibles. Buses must still be able to pass, and residents’ cars need manoeuvrability across two carriageways to exit and enter tight garages and driveways. I’m sure it’s doable though. Centurion coaches might be prevailed upon to use two smaller buses rather than large coaches to service St Mark’s school. Perhaps diagonal parking could be introduced ( more parking using less space) on the wider stretches, thus narrowing road but in a manageable way with clearly marked priority. Camden Road can perhaps become a quiet haven once more. Just thoughts, but thank you again for leading this.
Some very interesting ideas here – thank you for those and your support
And on behalf of the same resident…
And the school run needs to be tackled. A cliche but true. When traffic picked up at 4pm today I counted six cars (in one minute) driven by a mother with a kid in school uniform in front seat. Large cars, otherwise empty and far exceeding speed limit. Others are labourers finishing early. They all want to get home. BUT…..
Morning Jeremy, just thinking would it be an idea to get those handheld community speed cameras for a trial period ? It would give us data at the very least and I’m sure there are enough of us to take turns in manning them ?
Hi yes – we could do. We do have speed data from a long time ago and we should have very recent speed data from the electronic sign the council put up for us in June. It will all probably tell us what we already know – see page 21-25 in our report https://camdenresidentsbath.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/cra-paper-10-final-compressed.pdf
In the report we say “Do we have to wait for the ‘inevitable to happen’ before there is a call to act?”. Well unfortunately we have had to wait and now is the time for decisive action.
Hi yes – we could do. We do have speed data from a long time ago and we should have very recent speed data from the electronic sign the council put up for us in June. It will all probably tell us what we already know – see page 21-25 in our report https://camdenresidentsbath.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/cra-paper-10-final-compressed.pdf
In the report we say “Do we have to wait for the ‘inevitable to happen’ before there is a call to act?”. Well unfortunately we have had to wait and now is the time for decisive action.
Today is ‘Clean Air Day’. The ‘Living Streets’ are saying “It’s not complicated: the more walking we encourage, the less road traffic we have, and the less pollution we will generate. However we need decision-makers onboard so that walking is prioritised – and that’s where you can help us.”
Would you say that walking is prioritised on Camden Road…? And if not, could it not be? It’s a level street that does get many people to a point where they can drop down into the city centre easily – but it not safe. It is not safe from speeding traffic and the air carries pollutants from passing traffic. This needs to be a living, thriving neighbourhood and a walkers and cyclists safe thoroughfare – not a well known rat run for drivers.
This is a big test for the new council administration, some of whom were very much on our side prior to the election.
Time for a mini toll road system to be put in so that people will think twice. Unfortunately stopping traffic severely thru this road means a big wide detour for people unable to use radial roads to traverse the city rather than in out spoke roads
I take your point. I can think of a just such a toll road in Dulwich, SE London (https://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/5858048). Camden Road is currently part of an unofficial northern bypass. But every bypass I can think of is built with two way traffic and does not bisect neighbourhoods.
I’ve got this undertaking from Joanne Wright…
On 20/06/2019, 07:18, “Joanna Wright (Cllr)” wrote:
Dear Jeremy
Thank you for the links. I am taking up this issue with Officers. It is not something I can solve tomorrow, it is in our manifesto and it is my intention to improve the movement of cars in the north of Bath.
Joanna
Joanna Wright
Councillor for Lambridge Ward
Joint Cabinet Member for Transport Issues
Bath and North East Somerset Council
Mobile 07582 749865
I’ve told her we will be keeping the pressure up to ensure this gets the earliest possible attention and both the deputy leader of the Council and our other Walcot councillor will be attending our committee meeting this evening.
They are then due to meet Debra and Francois Louw who were very directly affected by the crash last week.
Jeremy