Cycling and Walking in Fleetville

 Fleetville has always been subject to suggested changes; you might say there have been plenty of ideas, although most have bitten the dust before seeing the light of day.  There was to be the new road between Sandfield Road and Camp Road, which got as far as Roland Street/Campfield Road because someone else paid for it.  There was the roundabout to replace the first one at the Crown junction; that became the 'teccy' traffic lights (and not before time).  Once The Quadrant had opened in 1959, there was a suggestion to replicate the idea somewhere along Hatfield Road and take more of the shoppers' parking off the main road;  I don't think they had Morrison's in mind.  Oh, and there was a proposal for an underground car park at the Rec – yes, where and how would they have sent the sub-soil? By road of course.

Hatfield Road walking and cycling anywhere you want in 1906.

The main road has been widened in places, but we still have to breathe in as we descend the narrow hill towards The Crown.

We may have benefitted from the building of the St Albans' bypass in the 1920s, but we could have done with another rethink in the 1960s.  In fact, with the closure of the branch railway line someone thought it would be great to send traffic between Holywell Hill, London Road and Hatfield Road at Colney Heath Lane.  No, that didn't get anywhere; neither did the plan to extend the Abbey Line onto the "Alban Way" route to Hatfield and Welwyn Garden City.

A car-less Blandford Road in 1907
Courtesy HALS

As the number of cars per household increased passing through the parallel roads became more challenging, not least for residents, but also for drivers trying to pass each other having met in the middle from each end.  The one-way concept did not meet with majority approval, and zoning is the latest idea for parking, but of course that has put pressure on roads just outside the zone.

Tunnel parking in Sandfield Road
Courtesy Google Earth

The new proposal up for discussion is a Low Traffic Neighbourhood. LTNs attempt to address several deficiencies in the current road network.  First of all it tries to ensure those who live in the LTN are able to move around within their patch with greater ease.  Keeping rat-running to a minimum so that drivers who nave no need to be in or pass through the zone are dissuaded, and vehicles which need to be there a maximum speed is reduced to 20mph. By these three measures cleaner air near people's homes should be possible.

But there is a second range of possibilities through reducing the number of vehicle movements and speeds;  the zone has pavements which are narrow and close parking head to tail is inevitable. Visibility for pedestrians can be limiting and is no better for cyclists.  With shops close by it is hoped that cycling and walking can become the default methods of travel.

The proposed Low Traffic Neighbourhood bounded by Hatfield Road, Beechwood Avenue, Sandpit Lane and the Midland Railway
Courtesy Hertfordshire County Council

The county council would be designing the scheme if it proceeds, and that would include signs and alterations to improve visibility at junctions.  But no doubt other arrangements would be considered.  Unfortunately, its website does not show what has been achieved in other places where LTNs have been introduced.  Without such examples it is difficult for us to imagine and comment meaningfully what a Low Traffic Neighbourhood might impact on the lives of Fleetville residents, whether we live inside or beyond the boundaries of the zone.

Residents have until 16th March to make their comments.  The website is www.hertfordshire.gov.uk/activetravelfund.  Responses can be made directly from the website.

Growing and Growing

It is a measure of how busy the early summer months can be, that we have reached  23rd June, by which time the third post of the month is usually published, and this is the first June blog post!

It had always struck me how many cars lined the roads of Fleetville and other local districts during the middle of the day, where you might expect many households to be out of the house at places of work.  As most local folk have known for a long time commuters from elsewhere have combined free street parking with a brisk walk to the station; a routine highlighted recently with the introduction of residents' parking schemes in the parallel roads of Fleetville, when there was a sudden increase of all-day parking in those further roads hitherto not affected.

In the early days of the old station building in Ridgmont Road most commuters walked to the station – and there was a steady movement of westward-exercising pedestrians calling in at the paper shop on their way to catch the 8.22.  A proportion of them turned to the buses when they began to operate in the 1920s and from the 1950s the commuter might be driven to the station with the spouse returning the car to the domestic garage – we could do with more of that today but the family car has been replaced by the personal car.

The old station was torn down in 1973 when the new buildings were opened in Station Way, a road which did not exist before then.  I am sure the waiters for trains welcomed the new more spaciously provided facilities.  These, of course, have encouraged more users,  multi-storey car parks have been added, more services and longer trains.  And now the overcrowding within the station as a result of the line's popularity, is to be relieved with more concourse space, a second footbridge (who remembers the station entrance and footbridge on the road bridge itself?) and extra capacity at the Ridgmont Road entrance.

But the real question to be asked is how far from the station would commuters be prepared to park their cars and what proportion of their total journey would then be driving compared with walking?  We need to know these things, and I feel sure someone has already completed a survey on the subject.