UPDATED "How a #MISGUIDED busway can cause #TRAFFIC CHAOS in Manchester"

I have the fortune, (and misfortune ), to live in a place called Wigan.

Not that I live close to Wigan, I live closer to Salford and Manchester, but, in their wisdom, ( think it was a political party in order to increase their lot!) moved us. Prior to that I lived in Manchester, in the glorious county of Lancashire.

To that end I consider myself a Lancashire Lass, and very proud of that title I am.

I still put my address as being in Lancashire, although technically, it is now Greater Manchester. Alas, there is nothing great about the powers that be that have allowed the fiasco of the Guided Busway, OR , as us locals call it, the misguidedbusway.

We didn't want it, we shouted out that we didn't want it in any shape or form, but, we got it foisted on us by people that knew better!

For our own good. 

As this busway will take 5 mins off the journey in to Manchester.

These Godlike people were local councillors, who had been voted in by the local community on the basis that they were our mouthpieces. Who were we trying to kid? They tend to do the complete opposite of what we want. They then relish the fact that we can do *bugger all* about it.

Well, this is where they got it wrong because now we have a blight and bane to use to connect with one another. It is called Social Media, and include the likes of Facebook and Twitter. 

A page appeared on Facebook on the 3rd of October and now boasts an amazing ( and ever growing) total of 3,383 likes. That includes a very positive *like* from myself. We are now spilling over to Twitter where a debate was held on Monday the 13th of October with a Q & A session involving Wigan Coucil and basically, Transport for Greater Manchester. The Q & A was considered by virtually everyone on the Facebook page "Enough is Enough. Stop the Traffic Chaos in our area"as farcical and unsatisfactory. That is unless you wanted to find out which was faster, a shark, or a bus! Hmmm, well my vote is for the shark personally.

This picture shows the route in to Tyldesley at 4.30 pm on Wednesday the 15th of October

The busway is set to run from Leigh, and was originally set to run in to Manchester, except it now only runs to Ellenbrook. From there you would have to travel down the East Lancashire Road / A580. There will be 7 twinned stops on route and two Park & Rides

Now on the information available from the TfGM page about the guided busway it states

​"We take our environmental responsibilities very seriously and bus priority is part of our commitment. and during the construction and delivery of the bus priority package we will be sensitive to the local environment"

However the Leigh Reporter reported that local residents were angry way back in March 2013 over the destruction and removal of trees etc. from the site.

The area now is a veritable wasteland, as every single plant and tree has been swept away and all you can see it soil, and more soil. Which, now the dry weather is over. (We DO live in Manchester after all, it was to be expected ) Is turning in to a mud bath. Astley Street, and I imagine at the other junctions it is awash with mud. It's disgraceful.

Peter Boulton is the head  of TfGM programme management services. His response to people complaining was,

 "TfGM has kept its commitment to keep local residents and businesses fully informed about the construction of the busway." and  “We wrote to residents in November last year and again this month about the site clearance works and have visited dozens of people in their homes." This is as reported in the article you can access if you click on the link below.

Well they visited dozens of people! Hang on, wow, I am overwhelmed that they even did that. 

Full story here

This is only the tip of the iceberg as, it is the completely mismanaged farce of traffic management that has goaded the local people, businesses, and workers that have to travel through, and around the area.

The Leigh Journal reported about local people's fears regarding the ongoing traffic chaos and overall negligence in managing the work on local roads

http://www.leighjournal.co.uk/yoursay/leighetters/11478131.Busway_fears/

There are basically two roads in to Tyldesley from Astley. One is Hough Lane, and the other is Astley Street.

Hough Lane was originally due to close for 5 months, but, this was extended and is now expected to reopen about Christmas time. Meanwhile on Astley Street there are traffic lights, and the traffic is crawling up the hill every morning, and evening, Sometimes at other times too. People have had enough, especially so because

THEY DIDN'T WANT IT IN THE FIRST PLACE!

There was a tweet sent during discussion on Twitter about the fact that 

We aren't alone in this as a survey carried out by Walkden South Councillor Iain Lindley has shown an overwhelming majority want to see the Leigh Guided Busway scrapped. With the responses having come from a wide range of communities, including Walkden, Swinton, Worsley, Boothstown, Little Hulton Astley, Tyldesley, Atherton and Leigh.

 Councillor Iain Lindley, Conservative Councillor for Walkden South, said:

“I’m appalled by the ongoing disruption caused to local people going about their daily business. Salford and Wigan Councils need to do much more to alleviate the huge problems that the construction work is causing. Most local residents don’t want this busway and it is a shame that the Labour Councils have pressed on with this project against the wishes of the community. It is causing huge disruption during the construction phase and will continue to cause tailbacks when it is finished, all at a huge financial cost and without significant improvements to public transport on completion.”

Furthermore the article in Manchester Gazette reports:

"96% of those responding indicated that they had been personally affected by the delays and disruption caused by the ongoing construction work
74% think that the busway will continue to cause disruption once the construction work is finished, while just 2% think that the busway will take traffic off the roads once it is finished.
Only 7% think that the busway will be a good thing and 80% think it will be a bad thing.
Given the choice, 76% would have preferred a rail link to Leigh and a new railway station at Little Hulton.
71% thought that Salford City Council’s changes to Chapel Street and the Crescent made things worse. Just 6% thought they were a good thing."

Do we see a theme here of this busway being unrequited and ludicrous from the start

The nightmare of traffic light springing up left, right and centre is unbelievable. Locals have called fro a public meeting but, the very councillors that are meant to represent us were reported as being frightened because we locals are so angry! Of course we are angry, and entitled to be, but that is not the point. We are a bunch of individuals who want to understand why we are forced to suffer this unwanted busway. There are a lot of professional people and business people in the group. We are a mixed bag and we want proper answers to our questions.

Business owners are talking about the real prospect of their businesses failing due to this and the misery isn't set to end for a long time. The scheme is behind schedule by almost double the initially planned time already. With this as example of their work to date, how long can this continue.

This is amid fears over the future of Balfour Beatty, reported in newspapers across the country.

As reported in The Telegraph

http://www.boothstownbugle.co.uk/ gives news about this 

Despite our problems, the local people have shown a sense of humour in our hour of need

as demonstrated by the game below

 and thoughtfully a crossword to while away those hours sat stuff in traffic chaos

I hope you enjoy the crossword and the game because we, who have to deal whith this #misguidedbusway and #trafficchaos on a daily basis are not amused

http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/2000-back-call-end-east-7974504

Last night after a meeting locally it was decided to protest about the ridiculous plan to tear up Tyldesley Square, and send the bus for the busway up Stanley Street and then turn toward one way traffic on Elliott Street
Therfore this morning work commenced at 9 am to start this process, as far as we are aware 10 days ahead of schedule so that we cannot protest.
Wigan Council have a complete disregard for local people's opinions or concerns on this.
They could have changed the signs on another road Johnson Street at a cost of £750 but have chosen this dangerous route to the tune of approx. £75,000. It beggars belief what they were thinking! ( figures are approximate and were supplied by members at the meeting yesterday evening)

Finally there is now a petition on change.org in an effort to have a judicial review undertaken


 https://www.change.org/p/wigan-metropolitan-borough-council-this-petition-is-to-call-for-a-judicial-review-to-challenge-the-decision-to-allow-planning-permission-given-to-leigh-guided-busway-by-wigan-metropolitan-borough-council-despite-overwhelming-local-public-opposition-2



UPDATE

28 Oct 2014 — http://www.boothstownbugle.co.uk/tfgm.html 

Above is a link to a meeting for the public to attend FINALLY

This basically means they are ignoring our concerns and going to go ahead and do what they please while pretending to listen. DISGUSTING and UNACCEPTABLE. 

Then throw us breadcrumbs about CONTROL over the traffic lights on Astley Street

Basically these people intend to do whatever they like with just a smidgin of a nod to us! That they intend to proceed to tear up Tyldesley Market Square is contemptible! These people do not deserve their places in office

This is taken from the petition on Change.org

The powers that be have decided to completely ignore out of hand that the consensus of opinion regarding the foolish and costly move to rip up the market square in Tyldesley regardless and give locals a *choice*! between three options on traffic on Astley Street.


 A meeting on Tyldesley Market Square is scheduled for this Saturday the 1st of November, commencing at 10.00 am.
 A handwritten copy of the petition will be available for members of the public to sign, as some have no access to the internet and want to make their voices heard

The good news is that over 450 signatures were taken on the square in Tyldesley today, the 1st of November. With copies of the petition for the elderly and those with no internet access asked for, and give to local shops and pubs.

All local shopkeepers and public houses reporting a huge downturn in takings due to this ill-considered, and mismanaged scheme already. No one thinking that the traffic chaos already being endured will improve once the work has been completed. In fact quite the reverse, as most believe the chaos will increase then.

Letter from Norman Bradbury who supports the campaign Enough is Enough, alongside of the Wigan Independent Group

Guided Busway Madness Continues

All pain without any gain

Over the past few weeks the local press has been inundated with complaints from residents and businesses about ground, and engineering work for the Busway which has disrupted their journeys in the Leigh, Atherton, Tyldesley, Astley and Mosley Common areas. In Atherton the engineering work has proved to be a disaster with the local shops loosing up to 50% of their normal trade due to lack of Car Parking Space, and for what?

A disaster waiting to happen with only 7km guided busway out of a total of 21km of the busway service route. On the guided section, stops are not even where people want to board the bus. Passengers from Mosley Common have to board the bus at the Ellenbrook Guideway. It’s been suggested that there could be a feeder service from Mosley Common to the Ellenbrook Guideway. Who on earth would want to uses two buses to get to Manchester, when they have the option of using a direct service to Manchester from Mosley Common?

The A580 Park and Ride was proposed as part of the ill fated TIF bid. The rationale behind this proposal was to allow people to park their cars there in order to avoid the Congestion Charge. Since the Congestion Charge was never introduced, it won’t attract drivers to leave their cars and then have to pay to go to Manchester on the guided bus. What a farce this will be, even more money wasted.

The service will be operated by one operator using Double Deck Hybrid Buses despite the objections of residents along the route to the use of Double Deck Vehicles. Once again nobody is listening, so why do they bother consulting people?

The operator has specified that they require exclusivity for the Busway Service only in respect of any services which uses the A580 corridor and continue beyond Pendleton and into the City Centre.

The section from the Ellenbrook Guideway to the Central Manchester Hospitals will be on Bus Lanes which are open to any operator with buses that meet the standards specified in the Quality Partnership Scheme. This means that the only benefit of the Guided Busway is the 7km guided section to the Ellenbrook Guideway.

This is a completely overpriced scheme, which should never have got off the drawing board, and has been forced through by misguided Labour Politicians who are unwilling to listen to common sense, and refused to consult the public in 2009 despite Andy Burnham MP stating that he would welcome their views. What a disgraceful waste of our hard earned cash, which could have been spent on far more deserving projects such as improving the Car Park at Atherton Central Station, installing lifts at Stations such as Hindley, Walkden, Moorside, and Swinton. Building a much needed new station on the Atherton Line at Mort Lane, which would not only serve Little Hulton, but the Tyldesley and Mosley Common areas as well. Improving the platform levels at Salford Central, and many other much needed schemes.

Win Councillor Norman Bradbury, MILT. Member of the TfGM Committee.20 Hillside Avenue, Atherton, Manchester, M46 9LX 01942 895671

Please take a few minutes to go an view the photographs of the destruction of miles of beautiful countryside, I am sure didn't have to absolutely strip the area root and blade!

There were deer, bats, newts, rabbits and a whole mass of wildlife in this area they stripped bare. I picture paints a thousand words please go and view pictures of this here

http://neils-photographs.smugmug.com/LeighLancs/Misguided-Busway-2012/Leigh-Misguided-Busway/20971557_Csht6t#!i=1666542150&k=WLdQgL8

Work on Tyldesley Square was suppossed to be delayed until after the Remembrance Day Parade this coming Sunday but this letter was received by residents Saturday the 1st of November. Proving once again the smoke and mirros involved in this debacle!

Scarlett

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