The more the road becomes a nightmare for drivers the less they will hopefully use it so only a win win in my books, hopefully they stick to the alternatives used over the last 6 month
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What you just described is not a win-win. It is the definition of a zero-sum game.
All getting a bit serious and doom mongering here isn’t it?
Guess once it is open and up and running, we will all get to see how it works. I am sure there will be plenty of humble pie consumed.
Hopefully, for the time and money it’s taken, it will work out. Even if those giant planters are stoopid.
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Still a win win in my book
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Why take this thread into politics / bashing the 20mph limit?
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I’m not sure anyone has brought politics into the discussion.
The reason the 20mph limit is relevant is outlined in this council document explaining the reason for the Dartmouth Roadworks themselves. This is fundamentally linked to the traffic issues that were brought up earlier in this topic this morning.
Have to agree with @Dave here. Getting very close to the mark of local politics. And a clear distaste for their policies.
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Well as chrisbeach pointed out in the zero-sum game post you can’t have your cake and eat it 
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As much as I would like to have double red lines on Dartmouth Road, it is not in Council power to install them.
Therefore double yellow lines is best we can do, and as someone mentioned a lot of problems were caused by then legal parking on single yellow lines.
And to remind everyone, the road narrowing should still be sufficient for two buses to pass each other with some spare room. This is obviously not enough to pass a parked car on the road, but even prior the works busses could not pass each other when someone was parked on the road. Therefore narrowing the road should not create extra congestion in itself.
It seems demand for parking in the area is quite high, so hopefully people will start using Perry Vale car park and walk few minutes to the shops. I did my best to increase free time to 2 hours, which may be reverted back if found not to be used. I will certainly ask for the trial period to be extended for another year as my agrgument will be, that the roadworks created quite a bit of parking space that was used, which I assume will be diverted to Perry Vale car park after the works finish.
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I think thread should stay focussed on any snagging and other issues of concern we can usefully raise now. When the road reopens we can have a new thread to monitor issues that arise. Threads that are full of nothing but speculation about what might happen tend to end up being circular and repetitive because there is no new information to inform the discussion.
Any ideological stance that may have been behind the road design is now irrelevant to the practicalities of what we have and how we want to ensure it’s the best it can be. Flaws in the design (if there are indeed flaws) will become apparent soon enough.
I would have thought the best place for a discussion about the politics that inform policy, especially with local elections coming up, is in Local Politics.
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Totally agree.
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Hi Maja,
The two hours free parking was a great idea and I think has helped to keep people going to the town centre. Indeed a footbridge from that car park would have been money better spent than the works on Dartmouth Road.
I didn’t realise it was a trial and I’d like to help keep it going, what can we do to help influence whoever makes those decisions?
Dan
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The only real criticism is the bus stop positioning going towards London Road. The ‘Forest Hill Pools’ stop is too close to the other one by the library/primary school, while an opportunity to move the bus stop from outside Barclays to the Heron House complex has been lost.
The latter would have stopped issues where the 122 blocks the road, so the 176 and 197 block the rest of the carriageway.
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So, road chaos and unhappy people aside, does the new update look good?
Going back to the planters & the flowers/trees that have been planted, I checked about how these would be looked after to keep the Rd looking nice.
They will be maintained for 2 years, though the green circular bushes apparently need a lot of attention.
I don’t have a clue on plants etc but spoke to a few that do including the fab Quetta that looks after what FHSoc plants around FH.
Myself & Zoe from @TheArchieParker will make sure the planting outside the job centre are watered & I’ll ask the Sylvan Post to do the same outside them, we’ll also remove any rubbish when we can & Quetta has said she’ll help when she can too.
It would be great if anyone sees rubbish in these planters when passing if they could remove it & bin it please.
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Maja @MajaHilton I’ll meet you on Wednesday evening at 7.15.
Where shall we meet on D Rd, Library & work down?
P
“I am aware of the snagging list, but I will welcome anyone to meet me on Wednesday 7.15pm to inspect work done at that point. Although the Tarmac will be laid, area in front of Forest Lodge will still be work in progress.”
Do we have any surveyors or experienced large-scale construction people who might be able to help Maja and Pauline with this please?
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YES PLEASE, if any locals work in this area it would help massivly!
I will obviously take notes and share, but I am not clued up on this kind of work 
To be honest, because of the length of time it’s taken to get this far, you forget excactly what it was like before but, aesthetically, yes, I think it’s a massive improvement.
The paving slabs and block pavers are way nicer than the standard local authority standard issue stuff, most of which was cracked and uneven anyway.
Then there are the areas outside Heron House and the Sylvan Post with massive raised granite planters and street-socialising areas, which are kinda nice (I suppose).
I was always shouting out about the oppressive and overbearing trees outside the SP, so the new Silver Birches, for me, add a huge breath of fresh air to that space.
It’s such a shame that the area has had to suffer so badly for so long to get these improvements though.
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I agree Mr
So many traders are suffering and it scares me the amount that are.
Thank god you are my landlord, I love you to bits & I don’t mind saying that.
You can tell me off all you like but I’ll still say the same.
You are a diamond Mr Man , and yeah I love you to bits as a person & a father figure to me, you are ace dude 
️:heart:️
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