Busway service B diversions in St Ives

Several roads in the centre of St Ives are being resurfaced this week, and as a result,  evening buses on route B are diverted. After 7pm they will not be calling at Station Road or St Ives Bus Station.

These buses will be running non stop between St Ives Park & Ride and the first stop on Ramsey Road north of St Audrey's Lane.

According to the second of these notices this arrangement will last until 24th August (except weekends). Presumably that means  buses will run as normal on Saturdays. But what about Fridays?

I travelled back from Cambridge this evening on the 22.33 service. There was nothing at the bus stop in New Square to say there would be a diversion.

When the bus reached St Ives Park & Ride, the driver made no announcement that the bus would not be calling at the Bus Station or other town centre bus stops.

At the time of me writing this, there is nothing on the Stagecoach website about this diversion, and nothing on thebusway.info website either.

St Ives Bank Holiday Market

As usual for a Bank Holiday Monday, St Ives Bus Station is closed today because it is full of market stalls. But Station Road  is clear of stalls, so Cambridge-bound guided buses can call at their usual stop there.

Whippet's website notes the following: Monday 26 August - bank holiday market in St Ives, bus station closed, see signs for alternative stopping points.

But I could see no signs up at the bus station advising travellers where to catch their buses.

I could find no information on the Stagecoach website or on www.thebusway.info

The bus timetable available on Cambridgeshire County Council website for Stagecoach route B shows the timetable for Bank Holiday Monday, with west bound buses calling at St Ives Bus Station Bay 4  - which is plainly impossible because of the market stalls.

A temporary bus stop in Station Road for west bound buses would be a simple way to solve the problem.

There are signs up in The Quadrant advising motorists not to park there because the spaces would be needed for buses.

Station Road, St Ives

Followers of the blog will recall that last summer a new bus stop, for guided buses heading towards Cambridge, was erected in Station Road, St Ives. It generated a lot of discussion and controversy, due to the fact that the bus stop caused a constriction in the width of Station Road at a busy town centre junction.

Yesterday, I received a written communication from Ross Hamilton,  Project Officer (Highways) for Cambridgeshire County Council about proposed changes to traffic regulations in Station Road, Priory Road, New Road and Cootes Meadow.

These proposals do not yet seem to have been uploaded to the County Council website - but I will add a link whenever the upload happens.

To summarise, the proposal is to consolidate several previous traffic orders into a single one, and the only material changes will be to  prohibit loading opposite the bus stop, and replace a short (16 metre) parking bay further along the street with a loading bay for the benefit of businesses opposite the bus stop.

The proposals are being advertised in the local press and the consultation period runs form 20 February to 13 March.

The benefit to busway traffic is that the proposal should improve traffic flow at a rather congested section of Station road.

Traffic congestion in St Ives

The  road at Earith, closed by flood water, seem to be having a knock-on effect on traffic in St Ives, and buses heading for the busway are being severely held up during the morning rush hour.

This image ( by Brendan Boyle) shows two buses in stationary traffic in Ramsey Road, St Ives, this morning ( 28 November). There were three As, two Bs, a C and a 22 in the traffic jam. The bus due to leave Station Road, St Ives at 0737 for Cambridge did not arrive in Cambridge until about 0900 - for the second day running!

And this one shows huge numbers of passengers waiting at Station Road, St Ives, for the buses that were held up in the traffic. Around 0830.

Update on Station Road bus stop

The bus stop structure now appears to be complete and a timetable poster has been placed in the notice board at the stop. The lights seem to be working. However, the real time bus display is not functioning yet.

Station Road bus stop, St Ives - work has restarted

Work is again in progress on providing (I guess) a proper shelter at the Station Road bus stop (12 September).

There is a temporary stop, with no timetable information, further along the road.

Next day (13 September). The frame of the bus stop is in place, including a bench. The bus stop lights are working, but as yet no roof or ticket machine.

Car trap at St Ives

On 3 September, a motorist, who failed to see the road signs, drove into the car trap  at St Ives. She claims that a double decker bus obscured the signs, though Cambridgeshire County Council says that the signs are 'ample'. The person driving the recovery vehicle says he has about two call-outs a week to the car trap. ( Hunts Post, 12 September, page 15)

Station Road bus stop - more letters

This week's Hunts Post (12 September, pages 6 and 7) prints two letters about the problems of the new bus stop in Station Road, St Ives. How absurd it is that old and vulnerable people waiting for buses to hospital have to wait on a busy pavemnt in eth open when there is a waiting room only yards away in the bus station! Buses waiting at the stop are lilkely to impede emergency vehicles, and block sightlines which make crossing roads nearby dangerous  for pedestrians. There is a suggestion that parking should be restricted in Station Road, and the exit from the Waitrose car park into Station Road be closed.

More about the Station Road bus stop and a comment on the economic impact of the busway for St Ives

Today's Hunts Post ( 5 September) includes three letters about the Station Road bus stop in St Ives, including one from a Fenstanton resident who has been in correspondence with the County Council about the problems. The letter is well worth reading as it reveals quite a bit about the process that resulted in this very  inadequate response to perceived overcrowding in St Ives Bus Station. This is on page 6.

Pressure on St Ives Bus Station is evidently reducing, as instanced by an article elsewhere in the paper (page 11). This covers withdrawal of an early morning bus  (service 21) that was used by young people from Needingworth travelling to St Ivo School. Stagecoach lost the school transport contract for Pidley, Somersham, Colne, Bluntisham and Earith to Whippet and Dew's, which has rendered that particular journey uneconomic. Needingworth pupils live less than 3 miles from the Ivo and are therefore not entitled to free travel to school. Whippet and Dew's buses currently have only 13 places available, at a cost of £150 per term, for pupils from Needingworth to use.

On page 7 are two letters grouped together under the heading of  'The sorry tale of two market towns' i.e. Huntingdon and St Ives. There is clearly a perception that St Ives has better shopping facilities than Huntingdon, but  the owners of an independent St Ives shop refer to their declining  trade. Although it has  been suggested that the busway has brought trade into St Ives, these shop owners would dispute that.

Congestion in Station Road, St Ives

This week's Hunts Post (29 August) didn't drop through my letter box until Friday, and although I had looked at the online version earlier in the week, I  missed a short letter from a St Ives resident that was on page 7. It was about the chaos in Station Road, St Ives, on market day ( Monday 20 August) due to a bus picking up passengers at the new bus stop, with cars queued behind it, and a bus coming the other way, from the Cambridge direction. The letter writer thinks that whoever decided on the site of the new bus stop hadn't 'given the idea much thought'.

I wasn't in St Ives the following Monday (26 August) for the Bank Holiday market. Did any readers of this blog  see how the new bus stop performed, whether the bus station was taken over by market stalls, and whether buses had to be diverted?

Station Road bus stop - work continues

In the last couple of days, after a gap of several weeks, work appears to have resumed on the Station Road bus stop in St Ives, which is the new departure pointg for busway service towards Cambridge in central St Ives. 'Men at work' signs and barriers have appeared, and a small metal cabinet has been set in place. I wonder if they are about to instal a ticket machine. Or perhaps the box is intended to control the lights in a yet-to-be-built shelter.

St Ives Station Road Bus Stop

The new bus stop in Station Road, St Ives, has now been in operation for  several weeks. as expected, it has caused traffic congestion. The Hunts Post ( 22 August, page 15) shows two photos of Station Road. There is a van parked on the double yellow opposite the bus stop preventing west bound traffic from passing. Colin Saunderson, a former St Ives Town councillor, who had campaigned for the stop to be at a better location, blames the Cambridgeshire County Council for siting the stop in the wrong position.The County Council claims they have had no complaints.  If you have observed any congestion problems in Station Road, you can write to editor@huntspost.co.uk . It would also be a good idea to write to your county councillor.

Busway's first birthday - report in News & Crier

Today's  Huntingdon & St Ives News & Crier (9 August, page 19) includes a full page devoted to the busway's first birthday. Chris Havergal asks whether the celebrations are justified. Although the number of journeys ( 2.5 million) in the first year is above target, it includes journeys made in guided buses off the busway, and bus operators do not expect fully to recoup their investments until Northstowe new town is built. Has the busway been 'value for money'? What evidence is there that the busway has reduced traffic on the A14? Finally there is the court case between Cambridgeshire County Council and BAM Nuttall still to be resolved - the case will not start until January 2014.

A similar article can be viewed on the Cambridge News website here.

There are two letters in the News & Crier ( 9 August, page 6) about the Station Road bus stop in St Ives.  Note that this bus stop is still unfinished : the top layer of tar hasn't been added, and there is no shelter.

Comments from readers of this blog welcome. What have been your experiences of the busway?

Improvements to Station Road bus stop in St Ives

The new bus stop in Station Road, St Ives, which was built to allow guided buses heading to Cambridge to skip the loop through St Ives bus station, opened on Sunday even though it was incomplete. In the past 48 hours a proper bus stop sign has appeared, and below it a small version of the timetable.

However, the sign says that the buses from this stop go to St Ives and Central Cambridge, which is bizarre since most of St Ives is in the opposite direction. I guess

by 'St Ives' they mean 'St ives Park & Ride'. 

 

Busway in this week's Hunts Post

Nothing as far as I can see about the new bus timetable and the extensions of services to Peterborough, Hinchingbrooke, Wyton Camp and Burley Road. But there is a letter from  Needingworth resident about the chaos at St Ives Bus station on Monday morning. The writer comments that there were no new timetables on dispaly, and only one Stagecoach employee on hand to redirect passengers to the new stop in Station road. In Station Road, traffic congestion built up on two occasions due to a lorry unloading at Petzone and  an ambulance parked opposite the bus stop. Also noted is that lack of a waiting shelter, and a concern that large numbers of waiting passengers could block the pavement . Hunts Post (25 July, page 6)

New timetable, new bus stop

The new bus timetable  for Stagecoach service B began officially yesterday monring (Sunday 22nd), although the only change was that Cambridge-bound services were departing from the new stop  in Station Road rather than St Ives Bus Station. Well, that was the theory. In practice,  no new timetable information had been posted in the bus station, and there was nothing to direct passengers to the new stop. the 0840 bus called at Station Road, then looped round the bus station to pick up passengers there. I travelled to Cambridge on the 09.40, which also picked up atStation Road and the Bus Station.

Passengers boarding the first bus from the new, unfinished, Station Road bus stop (0840 Sunday 22 July).

Station Road bus stop not ready for new bus timetable

The new bus stop in Station Road, St Ives,  appears not to be ready for the start of the new bus timetable on Sunday. Although 'Bus Stop' has been painted on the roadway, the final tar surface of the bus stop has not been laid, there is no shelter for waiting passengers, and the 'bus stop' sign is a temporary one. The  new Stagecoach timetable is due to start on Sunday, with the 08.40 departure from St Ives to Cambridge as the first departure.

New timetables  for Cambridge - Peterborough can be viewed  here.
New timetables for Ramsey, Chatteris and Somersham to Cambridge can be viewed here.

Safety concerns about new bus stop in Station Road, St Ives

A bus driver has expressed his concerns about safety aspects of the new bus stop for Cambridge-bound busway buses, which is due to come into service on Sunday 22nd July. See Hunts Post (July 18, page 9). The new bus stop projects 6 feet into the road, and  when a bus is stopped there, three-quarters of he roadway will be occupied. THis has implications for other traffic trying to pass the buses, given that sight lines are poor.

New bus stop in Station Road, St Ives

Work has begun on creating  a new bus stop in Station Road, St Ives. This is intended to ease congestion in St Ives Bus Station and means that Cambridge-bound buses on Routes A and B won't have to loop around the bus station. The stop will project out into Station Road at the front of Coral betting shop and the Hyperion auction house. The site of the bus stop has now been marked on the roadway.

Progress at end of Day 1 of works (9 July) - a conduit has been installed across the road, possibly for electric supply to the new bus stop.

End of Day 2 (10 July) - bus stop kerb has been partly built -  temporary traffic lights were in operation, causing traffic congestion and delays to buses to and from the Bus Station.

Day 3 (11 July) - congestion during construction work

End of Day 3 (11 July) - kerb round new bus stop is almost complete.

End of Day 4 (12 July) - no visible progress today, as far as I can see.

End of Day 5 (13 July) - nothing seems to have happened today either, which is worrying as the new bus service is due to start in just over a week.

End of Day 6 (16 July) - the new bus stop now has its base layer of tar. A sign saying 'Temporary Bus Stop' has appeared, which perhaps suggest that the buses will start calling there before work has been completed.

End of Day 7 (17 July) - two bollards and a post which will perhaps carry the bus stop sign have been erected.

End of Day 8 (18 July) - no visible progress on the bus stop today.

End of Day 9 (19 July) - no further work
 today.

End of Day 10 (20 July) - the bus stop has now been marked out on the road in yellow, but the final tar surface of the bus stop has not been laid, and there is still a temporary sign in place. There is no shelter for waiting passengers.

For more information about the bus stop, see blog post dated 20th July. Click here.

Continuing saga of Station Road bus stop and congestion at Harrison Way

There is a cracking letter in this week's Hunts Post (13 June, page 6) about several of the on-going issues to do with the busway in St Ives. First, the proposed bus stop in Station Road, close to what the writer describes as a 'dangerous junction'. He recommends viewing the junction on the Fink Creative webcam. The webcam only refreshes every minute, so you may have to wait a while to see a bus coming round the corner. It is a sharper-than-90-degrees corner, and buses have to swing right out to make the turning. He is certain that extending the service A into the town centre will reduce congestion on Harrison Way, but questions why the County Council thinks it must provide a bus stop near St Ives Bus Station when at Cambridge the A does not stop at Drummer Street Bus Station. The existing bus stops at East Road and The Quadrant are being ovelooked as alternatives to Station Road. The letter also discusses the lack of a car park at Swavesey, concern about the extra £2m of government money to ecnourage traffic off the A14, the extra traffic on the A1096 due to motorists coming off the A14 to St Ives Park & Ride, and proposes peak-hour traffic lights at the Meadow Lane roundabout linked to measures to prevent rat-running through central St Ives.