As I have been working from home this week I have had the delightful opportunity to monitor the effects of the temporary traffic calming measures at Corsham's town centre! Watching the traffic flow along South Place is rather akin to watching paint dry and I commend the volunteers from CCAN who have been out there in all weathers counting vehicles as they take their turn to politely pass along the highway - well most of them do! It has actually been quite extraordinary seeing how a small number of people seem to have got very over-excited about this simple change to their normal routine.
But there is a bigger issue here. Who is the highway for? In my book it is a shared route for cars, buses, cyclists, pedestrians etc. We all have a right to pass along the highway safely and we all know that South Place is an awkward stretch of road. This is compounded by being surrounded by historic listed buildings, being part of a conservation area, and the centre of our town. Quite a mix!
Having lived at the narrowest part of this road for nearly 14 years I am only too aware of the increase in traffic and the increasing danger to pedestrians in that time - particularly when two vehicles pass at the narrowest part. The pavement is extremely narrow in places and used by hundreds of people each day including young children and parents going to and from the primary schools who I regularly see narrowly escaping wing mirrors etc. People even pass perilously alongside Osborne House where there is no pavement at all to get from Station Road to the Methuen Centre.
Observing the effect this pilot scheme has been having this week and noticing the flow hour by hour it is obvious that it is calming the traffic down and making this part of the town centre safer for its residents. A few people - mostly drivers who do not live in Corsham - have been very emotive in their views about this but they are only seeing it from one perspective. Any delays really are very minor as any build up of traffic is brief and clears very quickly.
There will be time for a review now but it is widely acknowledged that something will have to be done about this stretch of road. This measure seems the most logical solution and no one has come up with any sensible alternative suggestion. If it is implemented it may cause a tiny inconvenience to some drivers on the odd occasion but looking at the bigger picture traffic calming can only help to make our town centre that little bit more civilised for everyone.
