Topic ID 28
Is it just me, or is the town centre now the most disgusting place for cars parked on every inch of pavement!? In the evenings, there are cars parked illegally everywhere. Berchley Green pavement seems to have become a new free car park at night. The Area outside The Springs Gym and Halfords has become very dangerous. Often, there is not enough room to walk past. Too many cabs operate and they back up way past the rank. Outside the Frillies underwear shop the pavement was widened for pedestrians, only now cars fully park on it! Around Shire hall there is a mini M25 at night. The list goes on. Don't get me wrong, I like Hertford being popular at night, but the car parks are half empty and the Police simply walk/drive past hundreds of cars parked on double yellow lines and blocking pavements. Other historic towns enforce the parking policies, and the town looks a hundred times better for it. Why should Hertford be any different?
Reply ID 67
My particular gripe is those who park on the double yellows along St Andrew Street. Last night an small open backed lorry parked outside the post office right on the junction with Old Cross. The driver had stopped there to go into the post office. I don't even think he realised that he had brought traffic in all directions to a standstill. Then you get those inconsiderate people who park outside the chinese take away. Pure laziness, that's what it is.
Reply ID 72
I may be wrong here, but I think that traffic wardens have been withdrawn from the town by the local constabulary. The District Council were supoposed to take this over but I'm not sure it's happened.
Reply ID 75
Hello everyone I must say I appreciate people's frustration at inconsiderately parked cars eg where it brings traffic to a halt or stops pedestrians getting past. However, a word of warning for those who want stricter enforcement of parking rules: It's not far down that route before you get to the situation of many London boroughs, where motorists become simply a resource to be ripped off / deliberately caught out by unreasonable parking regs and over-zealous wardens, often paid commission on the number of tickets they issue (regardless of legitimacy). Since Hertford's trade depends so much on people who travel into town by car, I would call for a little toleration of those who, whilst not parking inconsiderately might nevertheless be technically parked 'ilegally' from time to time...... Cheers Mike
Reply ID 80
[quote] motorists become simply a resource to be ripped off / deliberately caught out by unreasonable parking regs and over-zealous wardens, often paid commission on the number of tickets they issue (regardless of legitimacy). [/quote] I have heard that a private enforcement company takes over on a council contract from July 1st. Get ready for instant tickets with no leniency or common sense, clamps, tow-trucks....
Reply ID 89
Thanks for the info Plod. It'll be interesting to see how things work out.
Reply ID 92
[/quote] I have heard that a private enforcement company takes over on a council contract from July 1st. Get ready for instant tickets with no leniency or common sense, clamps, tow-trucks.... [/quote] Excellent!! Can't wait for all those that pop into the chinese or chemist in St Andrew Street "just for a few minutes" with their hazards blinking to come out and find their cars gone. Too damn lazy to park in the car park and walk 100 yards, serve 'em right if they have to pay £100 to get their car back.
Reply ID 93
The local police have recently withdrawn traffic wardens from the town. East Herts District Council are expecting to assume responsibility but are still deciding whether to employ wardens directly or contract it out. This will not happen any time soon as the necessary legislation is not yet in place. Edited by - Steve on 05 Jul 2003 03:25:03
Reply ID 113
They'll have to do something soon otherwise there will be all sorts of trouble. I was in town today and there were a couple of large removal lorries parked outside the post office in Fore Street. This mean that buses couldn't pull into the bus stop, jamming up the road. A car driver reversed into a space without warning, forcing a bus to brake sharply. The bus driver got out and showed his displeasure to the car driver. The bus driver then pulled up at the bus stop outside the Nationwide and threw his arms up in amazement when, just as he was about to pull away, a driver in a BMW Z2 pulled up right in front of him. It'll all end in tears.
Reply ID 125
Conflicts between buses and cars seem to be on the increase. The lack of an effective one-way system in the narrow part of Fore Street is a big problem.
Reply ID 127
JohnSmith...you either don't have kids or have forgotten what it's like! ....there is no comparison between the removal van situation you detail above, and someone parking outside Churchills to grab their video or spicy noodles. People need to keep perspective. I have been pleasantly surprised recently at how alive Hertford feels, and I'm willing to bet 10 English pounds that the shop-keeping fraternity will see a sharp negative impact as and when the 'eat what you kill' traffic enforcers get ticket / clamp happy. Vote Smith for a sterile, uninspiring ghost town, completely lacking in fun but awash with 'TO LET' signs. If, as Steve suggests, a re-engineering of the traffic system is the answer, I can only hope it is given more thought than the traffic light system by Tesco / A10 roundabout on the dual carriageway. What a disgraceful waste of all of our money.
Reply ID 128
OK Johnty, you win. Will you be standing outside Charlie Browns handing out the boxing gloves to the bus & car drivers as they drive donw Fore Street next Saturday? Or maybe we could set up a grandstand outside the library to watch the fun as Old Cross comes to a standstill.
Reply ID 129
It seems to me that here are two main places which cause 90% of all the problems in Hertford - Old Cross - causes backing up right on to the A414 Narrow part of Fore St - part of the problem there is that cars entering can't see that a bus has already started down - though you do sometimes get bus drivers who work on the "I'm biggest" principle and just charge in. Anybody else have particular black spots? Just a thought - we didn't hear too much about the traffic light system at Bluecoats once it was up and running -does that mean that you think it has worked?
Reply ID 132
Well I do seem to spend a lot of time at Charlies having my tyres replaced because of damage by drains and unfinished /crumbling road edges around the out of town lanes! Old Cross has long been a problem....from traffic lights to roundabout and back again I think. I have never had a problem with the rather odd set up on Fore Street, it always worked fine (the odd insane bus driver being a cheap price to pay)....that is until the Bluecoats lights, which sometimes (Saturdays for me) back it all up to cafe Pasta. I don't know about everyone else, but there was nothing wrong with the set-up as was. Now it looks dreadful, causes a lot of backups, and in my experience,is more dangerous. All in all, it smacks of a lot of budget left and no (worthwhile) project to spend it on.
Reply ID 134
[quote] insane bus driver being a cheap price to pay)....that is until the Bluecoats lights, which sometimes (Saturdays for me) back it all up to cafe Pasta. [/quote] On a Saturday?
Reply ID 135
I'm sure the last one was a Sat....I know I wasn't at work, cos I got stuck in a Tescos gridlock trying to turn left to go to Wrights chippy when everyone in front was turning right!
Reply ID 139
I understand what people mean about wanting to "pop" in, but its got to a point where Hertford needs "zero tolerence" with the parking. Cruel as it may sound, the business mix will alter, to suit the flow, even though some will suffer. The council can minimise the effect, by turning all existing town centre casual parking to half hour maximum, AND enforce it. If anyone wants longer, they are not "popping in" so they can use the car parks. They need to sort something soon, before someone else is killed. By the way, has anyone else seen the NEW invention by the taxi drivers. On a Friday night, they now park, blocking an entire lane. across the road from Baroosh! There is absolutley no excuse for this, as the one cab rank is half full, and the other one is empty. It is purely greed on the drivers behalf, and lack of licence control by the council. In the meantime the police walk right past!
Reply ID 146
I think Newgirl is right - there are basically one or two hot spots for parking / congestion in Hertford, and even they are not terrible all the time. I seriously hope people do keep a sense of perspective over this; obviously it's wrong for motorists to park INSENSITIVELY ie blocking people's way, but many people come into our town to spend their money and keep our restaurants/pubs etc alive. They could just as easily go somewhere else if we adopt the inner-London approach of persecuting motorists for even the tiniest violations. And it would do the council no good at all to be seen to profit from such actions.
Reply ID 193
By the way - I saw a TRAFFIC WARDEN in town the other day!!!! first one I've ever seen in Hertford....
Reply ID 235
I can see both points of view, but the fact is, it getting worse with each month. I'm in the town centre every day. Unlike London, I think its important to remember that Hertford town centre is very accessible from the car parks. Yet these remain empty, because people become lazy. At night, every inch of pavement is used up around bulls plain, railway street and Berchley Green. Yet South street has no cars on it, even though its perfectly legal to park on it at night. I had a window seat at the front of the Stonehouse on Friday night, and watching the traffic chaos was almost funny. Cars park on every inch of double yellow line, and some vehicles have serious trouble turning. As far as "popping" into town is concerned, of course there is a case. But where you park is the issue. Yellow lines are not put down for fun (although we could all argue that one!). They are put down to keep the traffic moving. Whether you stop for 2 minutes or 2 hours, it still causes the effect. Just "popping in" holds no water, if you find yourself complaining about traffic issues round Hertford, because you are part of the problem, if you choose to ignore the rules. I agree there should be more quick casual parking. But after that, the rules have to be inforced. Unfortunatley, its the only way to stop people. Has anyone noticed the amount of cars that now use the main pavement area in Berchley Green as a quick stop to get a newspaper or ice cream? Its increasing weekly. Where does it stop? I know everyone has a different opinion, but for me, someone who goes into the town centre two or three times a day, there are many problem areas. Nearly the whole of Railway Street, particularly around Barclays, the section of Fore Street around blockbuster, Bulls Plain, St Andrews street, just before the lights. Hazard lights everywhere, with people just popping in, but in fact, actual adding to the whole problem. Spicy noodles, a video or a delivery van. It makes no difference if it stops a bus.
Reply ID 260
I had to join in on the topic of traffic wardens where I lived ( Welwyn & Hatfield ) we had 5 warden todate we have only 2 so sometime you will only see 1, as the other one will be on a rest day, plus this area is one of the biggest in Herfordshire. remember they was told last december 2002 that they would be made redundent in March 2004 that is a long time to thing about being out of work after all the years service, one of them has done over 23 year in the some job. Remember :- ITS BETTER THE DEVIL YOU KNOW