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Arboretum junction crossing confusion
Friday 18th July 2008, 11:39AM BST.
A maze of pedestrian crossings at Walsall’s new-look Arboretum junction is making it almost impossible for people to walk into the town, it was claimed today.
It is said to be time-consuming and confusing for pedestrians. People say they are faced with a series of crossings which are frightening for pensioners and putting shoppers off going into town. Regular walkers claim it can take up to 10 minutes to get from one side of the junction in Lichfield Street to the other because of the lights.
They complain that they are unclear where traffic is coming from because of the new road layout.
Ann French, aged 72, of Leigh Road, just outside the town centre, said it took her seven minutes to get from the Arboretum to the other side of Lichfield Street because there were seven sets of lights.
It then took 10 minutes on the return journey where there were eight lights to get across.
She said: “It is very confusing and a complete nightmare as you are never quite sure which way the traffic is coming from.
“It will stop people wal-king into the town centre as the elderly won’t even want to attempt the crossings.
“I usually walk through the Arboretum and into town but I feel uncomfortable trying to do that now.”
Her husband John, 70, said: “During the summer holidays many parents take their children to the Arboretum and walk there from the town centre.
“A mother with a pushchair and a couple of children will find it difficult to negotiate this labyrinth.”
But Keith Stone, assistant director for the built environment at Walsall Council, said: “Once completed, the current ring road improvements will provide safe pedestrian crossing facilities at all of the junctions along the route.
“Most of these will be signal controlled.
“Prior to this project very few of these junctions had any formal crossing facility at all.
“Crossing facilities at the Arboretum junction are all signal controlled and pro-vide a safe way of crossing a very busy junction.”
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Until recently I moved lived very close to this junction and I am quite glad that I have moved away. It is confusing for drivers as well as pedestrians. There are 32 traffic light poles at the junction. The roundabout seemed to work and look nice as well.
Perhaps, as Mr Stone says, when all of the ring road is finished (two year programme started June 06 – by my calculation it should be finished now)all will become clearer. We wait and see.
What was nice was Lichfield Street closed off to traffic. It had a lovely Boulevard feel.
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Why’s everything built in Walsall a complete disaster, be it Bus Stations or now the Arbo Island.
I predict this new road system will not improve traffic flow in Walsall , if anything make things worse, by people using rat runs to avoid it.
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Keith Stone, assistant director for the built environment at Walsall Council, said:…”Prior to this project very few of these junctions had any formal crossing facility at all.”
What?! Is this man an idiot? Prior to this project there was a formal crossing at every road. Lichfeld Street had one, Littleton St East did, as did Lichfield Road, Broadway North and Lower Rushall Street. How on earth can this man say there were no formal crossing facilities?
This junction is an almighty disaster; why won’t the Council accept this and make necessary adjustments while the contractors are still on site.
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It’s a complete mess. Once again the joke is on the Walsall taxpayers. The whole island/junction has been so badly designed, and WILL NOT be any better when it’s completed. It’s an accident waiting to happen. I would put me week’s wages on it being ripped up/altered massively within ten year.
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The old roundabout used to get very congested at peak times, to be sure, but at least you could traverse it from any entry road to any exist road. The present labyrinthine junction layout seems to have been designed as a round of The Krypton Factor, rather than for the convenience of motorists. As for pedestrians, I’m glad someone else has pointed out that every single road off the old roundabout had at least one “formal” crossing within a very short distance of the roundabout. Do they actually train Town Planners these days, or do they assign these designs to Work Experience kids? (On second thoughts, Work Experience kids would probably design something that worked better).
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The reason that ‘Calamity Junction’ had to be designed this way is because of the Private Finance Initiative. This came out at the public inquiry into the demolition of the Littleton Arms – apparently traffic islands were not an option as the Council had to use the copyrighted traffic light systems demanded by their PFI arrangement, irrespective of logic or context.
In response to Red, the reason everything built in Walsall is a planning disaster is that it then gives the Council the opportunity to spend more of our money attempting to sort it out – very lucrative for their private developer ‘partners’.
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The real fun will commence on Monday when Hatherton Street is closed: I predict that Monday morning will bring traffic chaos. No different to other mornings then!
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It was designed by mad people in order to entertain other mad people. It’s certainly not for the benefit of motorists or pedestrians (like most other road “improvements” in Walsall).
I think it’s all part of the council’s plan to reduce crime, traffic, accidents, etc. by making it too much trouble for anyone to bother leaving the house.
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Neither my hubby or me have had the ‘pleasure’ of going anywhere near the completed junction yet and from what we’ve read in the news, it’ll be a long time before we do. It’s always been widely known that when it comes to organisation WMBC always use the most long winded, illogical and money wasting way of doing the even the most basic of tasks.
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