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Sudbury Bus Station - Comment 006

Page updated - 28 August 2015

 

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Email received 28 August 2015

 

 

[ For, hopefully, increased clarity I have made some minor typographical changes to the original - Webmaster ]

 

BUS STATION PROPOSALS

 

(1)   Has the Girling St. Car Park been risk assessed?

 

After a brief Risk Assessment from a qualified person from the bus industry, we concluded that unless ALL the site is used, plus extra traffic lights, this is non starter. A double-decker bus is 33ft long and 8,5ft wide and would have to penetrate the site up to at least 28ft so that it could load its passengers on the nearside of the vehicle from a passenger island that should be 8ft wide and have shelters BUT would be dangerously situated beside Girling St. which is often a very busy road and not the place for anyone with small children.

 

This site must also be rejected on H&S grounds because, after the bus has picked up passengers, it would have to rejoin the main road on the drivers blind side.

 

(2)   Was the 2% which has been mentioned, Sudbury or Suffolk based?

 

We were told that ‘only 2% of people used the bus’ yet, 17.4 million passenger journeys were recorded in Suffolk in the year 2013 to 2014, a rise of 4% on the previous year. Even if the figure is for the whole of Suffolk, 2% is still 348,000 people, possibly, with no other means of transport. Amongst this number must be the elderly which, if predictions are true, will rise to a 3rd of the population by 2020.

 

Meanwhile, Suffolk County Council has cut bus funding since 2010 by 52% from £4,361,017 in 2010 to £2,102,440 in 2014

(Information received from Freedom of Information act)

 

 

ALTERNATIVE BUS PLAN

 

A BUS DEPOT could be sited near the new medical centre where land is available and, buses leaving and returning to the depot could serve it. This would also mean that if the new Chilton housing estate be approved, this could be served without congesting the town. This congestion could be also be helped by 50% of the buses entering the town via East St after collecting passengers from Springlands, Chilton etc. and 50% of the buses entering the town via Newton or Cornard roads after serving these areas.

 

The BUS STATION could be housed in the old Co-op building which is now empty with a wide area in front and provides ample space inside for a waiting room, café and information centre etc. What more central position could one find?

 

To achieve this, I would make that area of East St, BUSES ONLY and make ALL of Girling Street a two way road. This would allow the buses entering from East Street to go straight on and 'serve' the Co-op in front of which could be, up to three stops and buses coming from Newton & Cornard to serve stops on the opposite side of the road. This would allow ALL buses to exit from the bus station to go in whatever direction they desire. Some route changes might have to be made but, with imagination, these could be an improvement on present routes.

 

For example, to travel to Bury St Edmunds, passengers from East Street, Springlands, Chilton etc., currently have to catch a bus into town BUT if some of the Bury buses went up East St, left at the McDonalds roundabout, past Tesco and then onto Long Melford.

Passengers could get to their workplaces on the factory area, medical centre, supermarkets from the town much more easily.

 

WHAT ABOUT THE CARS?

If Girling Street and some other roads became 2 way, cars owners along East Street wanting to go to Bury, could either go up to the bypass or, if going towards the town, when they go to Girling Street would have to turn left from the left hand lane as they do at present because the right hand lane at the junction would be for buses only going straight on to the Co-op.

 

They would then have a choice of either going round the roundabout and then returning up Girling St or, proceeding though town as they must do at present. If Girling Street were two-way it would also allow lorries coming from the Lorry Park and going towards Bury St. Edmunds would not have to go through the town. Also, if Gainsborough Road was also two-way, this would allow a 16ton weight limit to be enforced between 07.00 – 19.00hrs in the town centre. This would prohibit articulated vehicles from the town centre.

 

These recommendations could be achieved by traffic lights being set further back from the junctions and retiming.

 

These changes would not cause extra traffic along Cross Street just cause less in the town centre and along Gainsborough Street.

 

THE ONLY WAY TO LESSEN CONGESTION IS TO DISPERSE IT, NOT FUNNEL IT INTO A ONE WAY SYSTEM!

 

 

To add your comment to this campaign, email your input to have your say about Sudbury Bus Station.

 

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