Drastic action is needed on congestion
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THE article ‘Longest Delays Outside London’ in Monday’s M.E.N. made interesting reading, though the answer to the problem is more or less self-evident, yet not much thought has been given into resolving it.
If anything, things have been made worse over the years by selfinfliction, but GMC is not alone. Other councils up and down the country have more or less done the same.
Here’s an example – 60 years ago our population was about 50 million people and between us we had four million cars, one car roughly for every 13 people or 8 per cent of the population and the 92 bus service (as it was then) took approximately 40 minutes to cover its 10 mile route from Piccadilly to Hazel Grove.
Today, our population is about 67 million people, an increase of 34pc and between us we have around 32 million cars, or 48pc of today’s population, almost one car for every other person. No wonder our roads are congested.
Very little has been done to create adequate space for them within the boundaries of our towns and cities. When I was young I could play out in the street. Today’s youngsters can’t because there’s no space for them!
Today, the 192 bus can take well over an hour even in the off-peak time to cover its route from Piccadilly to Hazel Grove, although the timetable shows an increase of journey time of only 10 to 15 minutes during off-peak hours. The reason – there are 75 sets of traffic lights (junctions and crossings) within the 10 miles of bus route for drivers to contend with! Who would be a bus driver today?
Furthermore, the A6 has been reduced from two lanes each way to one lane each way from Belmont Way towards Manchester city centre and, in Levenshulme, between the Stockport boundary and Slade Lane, the nearside lane is now a parking lay-by with the bus stops protruding out into the road, so when a bus stops, everything stops.
The ‘infernal’ combustion engine has certainly taken us over.
So what do we do about it? I wish I knew. The more we extend the Metrolink system, the more that will become congested.
It seems we are in a ‘no win’ situation, but sooner or later we are going to have to take drastic action and a lot of people will have to change their work and travel habits to make life more bearable for all of us. Chris Pearson, Stockport