(All except one of the pictures on this post were taken during the late afternoon rush hour. )
(and Happy 18th Birthday Gemma from the Drayton Road / Caldecott Road roundabout.)
There is more AbITs work to complete. But since Stratton Way went 2 way there have been high expectations and some people are saying “I told you it would never work!“
The queues have been erratic, and long at times, particularly along Ock Street (that yellow bus is the Abingdon Town bus). I expect the final stage in November to December will see matters improve but we will have to wait and see. Traffic engineers say such changes usually take months to settle down.
A comment from one Driving Instructor writing to the Abingdon Herald:
“… I can now take a complete novice to the Spring Road roundabouts and, by the time we reach Coxeter’s, the learner driver has acquired the clutch control capability of Fernando Alonso!…”
Here are some other short extracts from the Herald Letters page since Stratton Way went 2 way. ( see their site to read more.)
Letters from Week 1: (Two pictures from Stratton Way at different times)
“…Either the consultants who produced the plan for AbITS were incompetent – which I doubt – or the council, fixated on the idea of reducing the traffic in the town centre, just didn’t want to hear the consultants’ warnings…”
“…Whilst having nothing against Abingdon Fair, after all it is an old custom lasting only two days, I did used to grumble about the traffic problems it caused. But not this year – I say thank goodness for two days’ respite from the chaos…“
Week 2: (Ock Street and High Street pictured)
“…If the traffic jams do subside, this will be because everyone is deserting the town…What a way to ruin a town!“
“…However long ago it was, and however many thousands of pounds ago it was, I stood in Abingdon market place at the exhibition of the plans for the new traffic system and I told the planners and the councillors that it would never work….”
Week 3 (High Street pictured)
“… the phase one implementation is not yet complete and so it is no surprise that limitations to the system in its current state are painfully obvious to all. The electronic system linking together all signals within the town centre will not be fully operational or fully effective until the final set of signals, to be installed in Bridge Street, is introduced….”
That is a glimmer of hope.
Parson Mead was built in 1967, and early on it had a nice row of shops: Greengrocer, Newsagent, Grocery, and Off Licence.
Read the estate agents blurb and you will be told here of “… a well presented property located in the North of Abingdon, offering good access to the A34 and local bus routes. The property has a refitted kitchen etc…”
There is also the van of the Abingdon Breakaway Club. This is a social club that meets at the Guildhall for games quizzes live music and afternoon tea. The van is also used for outings and generally keeping up social contacts between people without cars, in the age of the car.
