The major road works at the front of Derriford Hospital have continued for several months remodelling the road layout and providing more bus stops. The first few photos were taken back on the 17th July where the new bus road was more or less complete and the final road surface was being laid, giving a good idea of the new layout…
The three original shelters have been installed at the bus stops. The new bus stops on the left hand side can be seen here which will take buses heading back up towards The George (via the new Airport Link Road) and also the 50 etc out towards Estover. The temporary arrangements that have been in place for the last few months were less than ideal. The lack of space and awkward layout meant buses were often queued up behind each other. It was difficult to get the buses close to the kerb for easy wheelchair access and there were no shelters for passengers. The pavement at the front of the hospital was very narrow which meant that the electric golf cart in use for the less mobile which can be seen just behind Citaro 84 had to fight its way through crowds of people waiting for the buses. All of this has now changed for the better…
Taken this week, we see the new road in use with its nice new bus stop layout. Its still a temporary layout as buses are still only one way so just the stops here on the right are in use. At the moment this is still quite a bit less space than the old road layout so buses are still bunched up and double parked but there is generally plenty of room for this to happen at the moment. The old road to the right of the new stops is now being ripped up and a new layout put in place. Once this is ready then the full scheme with buses in both directions will take effect. The lack of any shelters on the left will be noted and is hopefully going to be sorted shortly.
I hope part of the plan is to move the stop where arriving passengers get off - the one on the slope is quite difficult for people in a wheelchair. I hope all the stops are being provided with raised kerbs, too - there are now raised kerbs all over the city except for the two busiest stops, Derriford and Royal Parade.
ReplyDeleteThat's got to be a first. A new bus station that's bigger than the one its replacing!
ReplyDeleteRoyal Parade will be done starting end of the month FACT
ReplyDeleteI wonder if ther is any truth in this, remember the recent preserved Dart 42 saga.
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