Discover Hertford Online Forum

Archived Topic

Topic ID 3307

08/01/2008 by newgirl

South Street Closed - Knock on effect

An hour and a half to get out of Mead Lane last night. I am getting sick to death of the problems on this very short road - it's just never a straightforward drive anymore. [V]


0 replies

Archived Replies

Reply ID 47488

08/01/2008 by stevew

I left work at 5:30 got to the Tesco lights an hour later. I doubt very much if the road closure affected County Hall it would have been allowed. I noticed the buses pulling on to the station roundabout managed to bring traffic from all directions to a stand still which did not help matters. How on earth the continued expansion of business and private properties on Mead Lane can carry on without the access being reviewed is beyond me.


Reply ID 47510

09/01/2008 by Steve

They were still queueing up at 6:30pm to get out of Mead Lane yesterday evening. This is a problem that is only going to get worse with all the additional commercial units and homes going up. The District Council have been burying their heads in the sand over Mill Road and Mead Lane for too long.


Reply ID 47513

09/01/2008 by shunt

How about "No right turn" from London Road into Ware Road and "No left turn" from Ware Road into London Road. To get to and from the A10 to Ware Road area, use Gallows Hill. All other traffic as normal. It would relieve the Mill Road lights by Tesco.


Reply ID 47515

09/01/2008 by Hugh

Mead lane traffic is ridiculous. New units are being built which will impact more on the one exit traffic. How come the planners allowed the increase in industrial units without planning a safe exit from the road. Imagine in the event of a large fire trying to evacuate the area. Where are health and saftey when they are actually wanted??????????


Reply ID 47527

09/01/2008 by Harry Palmer

With the new flats on Mead Lane and the proposals for "Mega Tesco" traffic will get worse


Reply ID 47547

09/01/2008 by Steve

Temporary traffic lights have down been installed outside Hertford East station to balance the flow of traffic from Railway Street and Mead Lane. However, whilst this may improve things for people coming from Mead Lane, I think it'll just make the back-up of traffic in the town centre even worse.


Reply ID 47581

10/01/2008 by Dude

One and a half hours to get out of Mead lane (750 metres!) last night. Does anyone know how it feels to travel 750 metres in 90 minutes every time you want to get home at night!?!?! I pay huge business rates, and every month there is another reason why my business can't function properly in Hertford. I have complained to the council 4 times this month. Useless...every time. To keep sane, I close my eyes, click my heels together three times and say " Theres not place like anywhere but Hertford"..... There is light at the end of the tunnel. Last week, I refused to renew my business lease in Mead lane! 5 months and ticking! 5 months to sanity! The Landlord said "not another one. We can't seem to rent the units for love nor money in Hertford anymore."


Reply ID 47584

10/01/2008 by Steve

quote:
Originally posted by Dude
One and a half hours to get out of Mead lane (750 metres!) last night. Does anyone know how it feels to travel 750 metres in 90 minutes every time you want to get home at night!?!?! I pay huge business rates, and every month there is another reason why my business can't function properly in Hertford. I have complained to the council 4 times this month. Useless...every time. To keep sane, I close my eyes, click my heels together three times and say " Theres not place like anywhere but Hertford"..... There is light at the end of the tunnel. Last week, I refused to renew my business lease in Mead lane! 5 months and ticking! 5 months to sanity! The Landlord said "not another one. We can't seem to rent the units for love nor money in Hertford anymore."
You have my sympathy Dude. The way the local authorities have neglected this area is close to scandalous. They have allowed development along Mill Road and Mead Lane to develop piecemeal whilst ignoring the cumulative effects and it is people like you who have to live with the consequences. The fact is that any solution is going to have to be radical and the local authorities don't have the courage to face up to that. And don't get me started on the fact that the streetlighting in Mill Road north of the station hasn't worked for six months!


Reply ID 47585

10/01/2008 by Dude

quote:
Originally posted by Steve
quote:
Originally posted by Dude
One and a half hours to get out of Mead lane (750 metres!) last night. Does anyone know how it feels to travel 750 metres in 90 minutes every time you want to get home at night!?!?! I pay huge business rates, and every month there is another reason why my business can't function properly in Hertford. I have complained to the council 4 times this month. Useless...every time. To keep sane, I close my eyes, click my heels together three times and say " Theres not place like anywhere but Hertford"..... There is light at the end of the tunnel. Last week, I refused to renew my business lease in Mead lane! 5 months and ticking! 5 months to sanity! The Landlord said "not another one. We can't seem to rent the units for love nor money in Hertford anymore."
You have my sympathy Dude. The way the local authorities have neglected this area is close to scandalous. They have allowed development along Mill Road and Mead Lane to develop piecemeal whilst ignoring the cumulative effects and it is people like you who have to live with the consequences. The fact is that any solution is going to have to be radical and the local authorities don't have the courage to face up to that. And don't get me started on the fact that the streetlighting in Mill Road north of the station hasn't worked for six months!
I spoke the the senior planning advisor (Nigel?) the other day and asked him if he found it acceptable that my business now opens late because my staff can't get to Merchant Drive for 9am because of the traffic problems surrounding the new build site at the end of Mead lane. He suggested I introduce flexi time. I won't tell you what I suggested he introduce......


Reply ID 47593

10/01/2008 by stevew

quote:
I spoke the the senior planning advisor (Nigel?) the other day and asked him if he found it acceptable that my business now opens late because my staff can't get to Merchant Drive for 9am because of the traffic problems surrounding the new build site at the end of Mead lane. He suggested I introduce flexi time. I won't tell you what I suggested he introduce......
Did it involve his head and his A---? [;)]


Reply ID 47667

11/01/2008 by Hato

quote:
Originally posted by Steve
Temporary traffic lights have down been installed outside Hertford East station to balance the flow of traffic from Railway Street and Mead Lane. However, whilst this may improve things for people coming from Mead Lane, I think it'll just make the back-up of traffic in the town centre even worse.
They turned them off last night as it was pretty gridlocked at 6pm...


Reply ID 47668

11/01/2008 by buzz

No sign of temporary traffic lights today. What I find amazing ((amusing?) is that plenty of apparently non essential traffic is still driving into the town from the War Memorial presumably knowing that South Street is closed. Surely it would have made sense to ban all vehicles other than buses and delivery vehicles from the town centre whilst this work is underway.


Reply ID 47669

11/01/2008 by Steve

quote:
Originally posted by buzz
No sign of temporary traffic lights today. What I find amazing ((amusing?) is that plenty of apparently non essential traffic is still driving into the town from the War Memorial presumably knowing that South Street is closed. Surely it would have made sense to ban all vehicles other than buses and delivery vehicles from the town centre whilst this work is underway.
They only have them up at peak times. They're usually gone by 6:30 or 7pm


Reply ID 47675

11/01/2008 by DCI monkfish

quote:
Originally posted by buzz
No sign of temporary traffic lights today. What I find amazing ((amusing?) is that plenty of apparently non essential traffic is still driving into the town from the War Memorial presumably knowing that South Street is closed. Surely it would have made sense to ban all vehicles other than buses and delivery vehicles from the town centre whilst this work is underway.
There is no need to close off Parliament Square it is a clear run through to Mead Lane in the morning. Besides, if they closed off access to the town centre for 2 weeks trade would seriously suffer as no-one could park their cars in the streets or multi-storey at Birchley Green.


Reply ID 47679

11/01/2008 by buzz

quote:
Originally posted by DCI monkfish
quote:
Originally posted by buzz
No sign of temporary traffic lights today. What I find amazing ((amusing?) is that plenty of apparently non essential traffic is still driving into the town from the War Memorial presumably knowing that South Street is closed. Surely it would have made sense to ban all vehicles other than buses and delivery vehicles from the town centre whilst this work is underway.
There is no need to close off Parliament Square it is a clear run through to Mead Lane in the morning. Besides, if they closed off access to the town centre for 2 weeks trade would seriously suffer as no-one could park their cars in the streets or multi-storey at Birchley Green.
Well, I believe there are actually other car parking options........Gascoyne Way for example, or London Road. (oops, forgot, that would mean having to walk an extra 100yds). I don't believe that trade would suffer if people knew it was only going to be for two weeks..........still if people must persist in driving into the town centre when they know the problems they shouldn't moan about the results.


Reply ID 47683

11/01/2008 by dutch knight

quote:
Originally posted by DCI monkfish
quote:
Originally posted by buzz
No sign of temporary traffic lights today. What I find amazing ((amusing?) is that plenty of apparently non essential traffic is still driving into the town from the War Memorial presumably knowing that South Street is closed. Surely it would have made sense to ban all vehicles other than buses and delivery vehicles from the town centre whilst this work is underway.
There is no need to close off Parliament Square it is a clear run through to Mead Lane in the morning. Besides, if they closed off access to the town centre for 2 weeks trade would seriously suffer as no-one could park their cars in the streets or multi-storey at Birchley Green.
you can still get to Birchley Green car-park with-out driving through the town centre


Reply ID 47684

11/01/2008 by btj

tell me dutch how?


Reply ID 47686

11/01/2008 by dutch knight

If you drive down from Mill Road along Railway Street straight to the car park.I don't class that as driving through the town centre.


Reply ID 47688

11/01/2008 by btj

but all other motorists are doing that. gridlock?


Reply ID 47780

15/01/2008 by stevew

No Traffic lights last night! Plenty of trffic jammed up all down Mead Lane though. I think I will park up at County hall untill they sort this out.


Reply ID 47784

15/01/2008 by Marilyn

The temporary lights on Ware Road just past Tesco were fun this morning, people are so silly, I waited on a green light at the Tesco lights so as not to block the junction as there was no where for me to go so the person behind decided to go round me into the left lane and then across the junction and blocked it so when the lights changed the vehicles coming out of Mill road could not get past either.................very clever.


Reply ID 47799

15/01/2008 by MrsG

Yes the temporary lights on Ware Rd (by the pedestrian lights to Focus) are causing even more chaos. The traffic is backed up along the Ware Rd over the traffic lights by Tesco across the Bluecoats roundabout and onto Gascoyne Way, so when the lights do go green at Mill Rd no one (or very few people) are getting out from Mill Rd. I hope this is emergency work on the Ware Rd and that someone didn't think it would be a good chance to cause even more chaos!


Reply ID 47859

16/01/2008 by buzz

It looks as if most of the work in South Street has been completed. Coming back on the 333, the driver, Paul, asked one of the roadworkers when South Street would re-open. He stated that he thought it would re-open tomorrow. Fingers crossed!


Reply ID 47869

16/01/2008 by Mad Mick

Imagine..the gasworks in south street dont get done, for fear of upsetting people on their journey to and from work....then some time there is a huge explosion, people killed etc, and the reason? The gas works never happened. What would we all be saying then i wonder?


Reply ID 47872

16/01/2008 by btj

you right essential works need to be done but it is a pain


Reply ID 47891

17/01/2008 by Marilyn

they have to be done and it this case it would seem quite efficiently and in the time scale they set. It is drivers who make the situation worse by blocking junctions etc when there is a hold up and that just makes the back ups worse, a little consideration for others is always nice I think.


Reply ID 47895

17/01/2008 by Ray_by_the_Beane

I hate to think what the reaction would be today if they had to do the major sewer renewals that were done throughout Hertford in the 70s.


Reply ID 47896

17/01/2008 by Hugh

Nobody working there this morning, but seems that the water board will be along as there is a major leak by the traffic lights, Sportsman side.


Reply ID 47921

17/01/2008 by btj

great more delays then


Reply ID 47974

18/01/2008 by dutch knight

South Street open,traffic is slightly better this afternoon


30 replies