The highways department will be conducting a traffic survey to asses the need for a zebra crossing over Bathwick Hill on Thursday 3rd July.
Cllr Coombes has pointed out that the results of this survey will soon be irrelevant as the opening of Tesco will change traffic and pedestrian patterns and more importantly the University is on Summer holidays and so the 12,000 students and 2,600 staff will be mostly missing from the statistics. The traffic team leader has suggested that another survey may be carried out in the future.
It is surprising that a traffic survey has not been carried out to date, despite the Tesco application going to a public enquiry in which the council was fighting a case to reject on highways grounds. Elgar may be gone, but the new Tory on traffic doesn’t seem to be doing any better. The department he is responsible continues to be understaffed; in the past year there have been three different individuals responsible for the Bathwick Hill crossing.
Staff shortage has also delayed the writing of the report needed so that a decision can be taken on the loading bay. It was mostly written this morning and should be going for a cabinet decision in two weeks time. This means that the loading bay could be painted, and Tesco opening, mid-August at the earliest.
Once again its ridiculous to hear the “reasons” for delaying the opening of Teso. Staff shortage in report writing, public hearings on the traffic… I wonder how deeply interested the council is in the comfort of its people for shopping (Bath with 100,000 inhabitants has TWO large supermarkets, this is ridiculous itself), rather than in settling Sainsbury’s as the only supermarket chain in Bath. However, as long as there are not an increasing number of large outlets, shopping in Bath will remain a pain.