Teesside Traffic

[fmttmadmin]

After being away for almost ten years, I'm always surprised at how "the same" everything is each time I return.

The one thing that is totally different is the amount of traffic (and the number of cars parked up along the side of the roads in residential areas).

I drove from Normanby to Middlesbrough town centre and back yesterday morning and was amazed at how long it took (especially between the A66 and Captain Cook car park), and at how big the queues were at every single set of traffic lights (most taking two cycles to let me through).

Coming from someone who drives through downtown Chicago rush hour five days a week, it's bizarre to find traffic more congested here!

The road between A66 and Captain Cook Centre has been really bad this week because of a 3-way roadworks traffic lights. But fair play to the workmen who worked right through the storm on Friday afternoon. (I walked past them twice, I was battling to make any headway through the winds and they were laying cables and toiling away).

 

[Hap]

It’s currently impossible to turn right out of Hemlington Hall Rd towards Yarm or Middlesbrough. Traffic is being forced back into Hemlington.

Is it some kind of quarantine?

 

[rkangel]

I'm with you and would call it the 263. It is an age thing.

Have you had all your shots and your visa stamped?

I’m sure there’ll be a mighty chorus of homecoming tunes.

 

[Facefuzz]

Yes of course, privatised "public" transport, private out-of-town shopping centres [Teesside Park] and people shopping online. It's all the fault of a cycle lane along Linthorpe Road and "The Council". Whilst you happily sit on your **** with four wheels holding it up, and blame someone else.

I regularly cycle mate so you’re wrong. And the council did sign off the cycle lane which was always destined for failure. First the put the flat curbs which were a nightmare. Then they put bollards in. The bollards were too close to the corner of junctions and effectively gave everybody their own thoughts on right of way and the bollards stopped roadsweepers cleaning rubbish so the cycle lane was completely littered. Not to mention that pedestrians had to navigate the cycle lane and the road and the cycle lane going on and off pavements near the bus stops.
I never mentioned public transport or out of town shopping centres so wind yer neck in yer doyle. Do you work for the council?

 

[Facefuzz]

That’s not what redwurrzel said he said “I can drive into Middlesbrough Town Centre from Guisborough in around 25 minutes away from peak times, that's nearly 7 miles of mainly urban driving”.

Sorry. I misread that. Fair play

 

[r00fie1]

I regularly cycle mate so you’re wrong. And the council did sign off the cycle lane which was always destined for failure. First the put the flat curbs which were a nightmare. Then they put bollards in. The bollards were too close to the corner of junctions and effectively gave everybody their own thoughts on right of way and the bollards stopped roadsweepers cleaning rubbish so the cycle lane was completely littered. Not to mention that pedestrians had to navigate the cycle lane and the road and the cycle lane going on and off pavements near the bus stops.
I never mentioned public transport or out of town shopping centres so wind yer neck in yer doyle. Do you work for the council?

It's always "the Council's" fault, isn't it?
No one said you mentioned "public transport" - but I did mention public transport - as a solution to the issue, but you clearly missed the point.
Pretty soon they'll be no town centre left, so your pedestrians won't have to navigate the roads with cars parked on the pavement and breath in the carbon monoxide as they queue to get into the Cleveland Centre Car Park.
Let's talk about the "Marton Crawl" - I suppose that's the Council's fault isn't it, and the queues on the A66, and the cars clogging up Guisbro` High Street?
As for the nonesense about Linthorpe Road. When I lived there, some 45 years ago - it was always littered with rubbish and clogged with cars and the pavements were always covered in spew and broken glass!
No cycle lane then.

 

[Norfolkred1]

It’s currently impossible to turn right out of Hemlington Hall Rd towards Yarm or Middlesbrough. Traffic is being forced back into Hemlington.

Is it some kind of quarantine?

It's a pain in the ass fella. I always forget before it's too late. A lot of work and a new, very slim, slip road. Suddenly a oblong hole has appeared, hope it's not lights.

 

[Hap]

It's a pain in the ass fella. I always forget before it's too late. A lot of work and a new, very slim, slip road. Suddenly an oblong hole has appeared, hope it's not lights.

I think it’s a crossing island for Lemmings of Hemlington.

They’re thinning us out, basically.

 

[Facefuzz]

It's always "the Council's" fault, isn't it?
No one said you mentioned "public transport" - but I did mention public transport - as a solution to the issue, but you clearly missed the point.
Pretty soon they'll be no town centre left, so your pedestrians won't have to navigate the roads with cars parked on the pavement and breath in the carbon monoxide as they queue to get into the Cleveland Centre Car Park.
Let's talk about the "Marton Crawl" - I suppose that's the Council's fault isn't it, and the queues on the A66, and the cars clogging up Guisbro` High Street?
As for the nonesense about Linthorpe Road. When I lived there, some 45 years ago - it was always littered with rubbish and clogged with cars and the pavements were always covered in spew and broken glass!
No cycle lane then.

So if there was no cycle lane 45 years ago then are you saying we didn’t need one, never mind an ill planned and over budget one?
Whose fault is the Marton crawl or the insufficient public transport links?
It’s the councils fault. They had the opportunity for years to put a dual carriageway from swans corner to the town alongside the railway. Instead they signed off on more housing where the route would go so exacerbated the problem 2 fold.
What about a slip onto the parkway at the piper going west and coming off east, again debated for years but never acted on. They built houses on 2 school sites on cargo fleet lane without considering that cargo fleet would be gridlocked.
They are now signing off over development in nunthorpe which will make it worse.
As for Guisborough, it’s double in size inabout 40 years with no foresight on the existing infrastructure. There’s as many parking spaces in guisborough high street as there was in 1995. Where do you expect people to park?

 

[ForssAwakens]

The number of lazy people increases year on year as well.

I’d counter that if I could be bothered

 

[r00fie1]

So if there was no cycle lane 45 years ago then are you saying we didn’t need one, never mind an ill planned and over budget one?
Whose fault is the Marton crawl or the insufficient public transport links?
It’s the councils fault. They had the opportunity for years to put a dual carriageway from swans corner to the town alongside the railway. Instead they signed off on more housing where the route would go so exacerbated the problem 2 fold.
What about a slip onto the parkway at the piper going west and coming off east, again debated for years but never acted on. They built houses on 2 school sites on cargo fleet lane without considering that cargo fleet would be gridlocked.
They are now signing off over development in nunthorpe which will make it worse.
As for Guisborough, it’s double in size inabout 40 years with no foresight on the existing infrastructure. There’s as many parking spaces in guisborough high street as there was in 1995. Where do you expect people to park?

Before you take the speck of dust out of my eye, take the plank out of your own.
Never mind those who don't drive or use a car - just keep building roads, tarmac arable farm land and make millions for private road-builders and private investors. Why should council-tax payers have to pay for the privilege of the motor car.
Try walking, cycling, or using the bus or the train - and if your "public" transport isn't good enough, then start campaigning or vote for other politicians. Private housebuilders buy up huge swathes of land, which they keep for years, then build housing on it when it benefits their pockets. Who pays for the infrastructure? It doesn't come free. Should a multi-storey car-park be built in Guisborough, paid for by the residents of Redcar and Cleveland, because people drive more cars on already over-crowded roads? We can't just keep building roads - it's not the answer. Learn from the 1960s.

 

[newusername]

So if there was no cycle lane 45 years ago then are you saying we didn’t need one, never mind an ill planned and over budget one?

If the funding came from central govt active travel fund then part of the issue with removing it is the council loses eligibility for further funding but I see Houchen is paying for its removal so possibly they've got the govt's approval to remove.

Whose fault is the Marton crawl or the insufficient public transport links?

It’s the councils fault.

Arguably it is the Conservatives under Thatcher that deregulated bus travel. Private companies take the profit on the busy routes and council subsidy on the unprofitable ones. As councils face financial hardship they are cutting their support & bus companies are cutting routes.

They had the opportunity for years to put a dual carriageway from swans corner to the town alongside the railway. Instead they signed off on more housing where the route would go so exacerbated the problem 2 fold.
What about a slip onto the parkway at the piper going west and coming off east, again debated for years but never acted on. They built houses on 2 school sites on cargo fleet lane without considering that cargo fleet would be gridlocked.
They are now signing off over development in nunthorpe which will make it worse.
As for Guisborough, it’s double in size inabout 40 years with no foresight on the existing infrastructure. There’s as many parking spaces in guisborough high street as there was in 1995. Where do you expect people to park?

Absolutely 1 more lane on the busy roads and faster shortcuts for motorists should fix it.

 

[Johnnyweetabix]

Before you take the speck of dust out of my eye, take the plank out of your own.
Never mind those who don't drive or use a car - just keep building roads, tarmac arable farm land and make millions for private road-builders and private investors. Why should council-tax payers have to pay for the privilege of the motor car.
Try walking, cycling, or using the bus or the train - and if your "public" transport isn't good enough, then start campaigning or vote for other politicians. Private housebuilders buy up huge swathes of land, which they keep for years, then build housing on it when it benefits their pockets. Who pays for the infrastructure? It doesn't come free. Should a multi-storey car-park be built in Guisborough, paid for by the residents of Redcar and Cleveland, because people drive more cars on already over-crowded roads? We can't just keep building roads - it's not the answer. Learn from the 1960s.

You have some valid points but rightly or wrongly society is different to what it was in the past . Who would wish to give up walking 10 steps to their car to drive to work where they can play whatever music they want , heat how they want , stop and then want … for walking maybe 15 or 20 minutes for a bus that may or may not come on time if at all, be at the mercy of the 23 stops on the way and then maybe walk some element of time to work ….

Same with bikes . I’m a keen mountain biker but there’s no way I would bike to work if I worked h the town or maybe at an old ici or British steel facility .

I’m all for alternatives and I don’t have the answer unfortunately other than … build better and more roads.. some of the decisions such as no access from ormesby onto the parkway etc is just ludicrous

 

[Redwurzel]

That’s not what redwurrzel said he said “I can drive into Middlesbrough Town Centre from Guisborough in around 25 minutes away from peak times, that's nearly 7 miles of mainly urban driving”.

Cheers Lighweight - Outside peak hours, never tried at say 8.15am in the morning. Going to the match on a Saturday leave at 1.15pm parked up at 1.45pm, there is are not many towns of 160,000 people where you can do that. Getting away 5.25pm back in Guisborough at 5.55pm..

Teesside area had quite a lot of new roads built from 1971 to 1983 at the request of ICI and British Steel.

From Guisborough - G to Nunthorpe - 1971 dual carriageway to upgrade a single carriageway country road.
Teesside Parkway 1975 - new dual carriageway from A19 to Wilton, taking most lorries off existing network
A66 dual carriageway new through Teesside joining Teesport/Wilton and Middlesbrough/Stockton area to A1M - 1983.
Add in A19 going North to South built in the early 1970s?

I remember been taken to relatives in Darlington from Ormesby in say 1970 and it took an age - Last summer at 10pm I did it in 25 minutes. As I type this Google is quoting only 31 minutes at 9.35 am on a Monday.

 

[Redwurzel]

Before you take the speck of dust out of my eye, take the plank out of your own.
Never mind those who don't drive or use a car - just keep building roads, tarmac arable farm land and make millions for private road-builders and private investors. Why should council-tax payers have to pay for the privilege of the motor car.
Try walking, cycling, or using the bus or the train - and if your "public" transport isn't good enough, then start campaigning or vote for other politicians. Private housebuilders buy up huge swathes of land, which they keep for years, then build housing on it when it benefits their pockets. Who pays for the infrastructure? It doesn't come free. Should a multi-storey car-park be built in Guisborough, paid for by the residents of Redcar and Cleveland, because people drive more cars on already over-crowded roads? We can't just keep building roads - it's not the answer. Learn from the 1960s.

Roofie and Face Fuzz - Guisborough doesn't need a multi-story car park - the paid for car parks are never full say on the site of the old railway station and behind Westgate. Its free on a weekend to park behind the old council offices. Usually there are spaces close to the town centre in Morrison's car park and you don't even need to spend anything in store. It must be one of the easiest Towns in the UK for free parking and paid parking. One council car park next to BetfFred bookies has been free for 3 months because the Council have not repaired the meter. Its perfectly to safe to ride a bike on the ordinary roads (i.e. not dual carriageway) in Guisborough, but the car is quicker and more useful for taking passengers and baggage. It would be nice to have a rail link back. The buses are OK from what I can see, say better than in rural areas, but nothing like a major city. Guisborough to me seems to suffer from lack of shoppers not too many cars.

 

[r00fie1]

Roofie and Face Fuzz - Guisborough doesn't need a multi-story car park - the paid for car parks are never full say on the site of the old railway station and behind Westgate. Its free on a weekend to park behind the old council offices. Usually there are spaces close to the town centre in Morrison's car park and you don't even need to spend anything in store. It must be one of the easiest Towns in the UK for free parking and paid parking. One council car park next to BetfFred bookies has been free for 3 months because the Council have not repaired the meter. Its perfectly to safe to ride a bike on the ordinary roads (i.e. not dual carriageway) in Guisborough, but the car is quicker and more useful for taking passengers and baggage. It would be nice to have a rail link back. The buses are OK from what I can see, say better than in rural areas, but nothing like a major city. Guisborough to me seems to suffer from lack of shoppers not too many cars.

Hello Redwurzel.
I'm parodying Fuzzfaces comments. I passed through Guisbro` a couple of years ago, on a bus from Saltburn, on a Saturday, and was gob-smacked at how the whole high street looked like one big car - park. I remember when a walk to The Globe on a Saturday used to be safe from cars here, there and every bluddywhere. Guisbro` reminds me of Leyburn, through which I attempted to cycle only a couple of years ago on my way from Hawes to Northallerton. The whole idea that, just a little slip road here, or a by-pass there, or widening the road there, solves the problem, is nonsense. I can't knock people for having cars, because [generally speaking], "public" transport is sch**t, especially in rural areas. Since buses were privatised and our railways became owned by foreign private companies, the situation has got remarkably worse. It will take many years to rebuild our infrastructure, but "public" transport needs to be publicly owned and run by those who work it and understand it, not politicians and accountants.

It's disgraceful that bus and trains around Teesside are made up of inaccessible out-dated vehicles, bus-stops for train stations and a signalling system from the 1950s. It's no wonder people aren't using the Towns to shop. I was on the old 263 not long ago and was appalled at the age and muck on the cattle truck they call a bus. No legroom, no easy access, and a suspension system akin to a 1950s Foden milk-tanker.

UTMB

 

[r00fie1]

You have some valid points but rightly or wrongly society is different to what it was in the past . Who would wish to give up walking 10 steps to their car to drive to work where they can play whatever music they want , heat how they want , stop and then want … for walking maybe 15 or 20 minutes for a bus that may or may not come on time if at all, be at the mercy of the 23 stops on the way and then maybe walk some element of time to work ….

Same with bikes . I’m a keen mountain biker but there’s no way I would bike to work if I worked h the town or maybe at an old ici or British steel facility .

I’m all for alternatives and I don’t have the answer unfortunately other than … build better and more roads.. some of the decisions such as no access from ormesby onto the parkway etc is just ludicrous

I'm not going back 45 years, but comments about not being able to keep Linthorpe Road clean due to a cycle lane is bonkers. It's always had loads of chip-papers, sweet wrappers and old boxes dumped along with the litter. It was no different the other Saturday. It's car-parking that's screwed Linthorpe Road, especially between Albert Terrace and the town. Try crossing the road. Chasing Sunlun fans past Forbes buildings on a Satda after a match cleared the road pretty quickly, mind.​

 

[Redwurzel]

Hello Redwurzel.
I'm parodying Fuzzfaces comments. I passed through Guisbro` a couple of years ago, on a bus from Saltburn, on a Saturday, and was gob-smacked at how the whole high street looked like one big car - park. I remember when a walk to The Globe on a Saturday used to be safe from cars here, there and every bluddywhere. Guisbro` reminds me of Leyburn, through which I attempted to cycle only a couple of years ago on my way from Hawes to Northallerton. The whole idea that, just a little slip road here, or a by-pass there, or widening the road there, solves the problem, is nonsense. I can't knock people for having cars, because [generally speaking], "public" transport is sch**t, especially in rural areas. Since buses were privatised and our railways became owned by foreign private companies, the situation has got remarkably worse. It will take many years to rebuild our infrastructure, but "public" transport needs to be publicly owned and run by those who work it and understand it, not politicians and accountants.

It's disgraceful that bus and trains around Teesside are made up of inaccessible out-dated vehicles, bus-stops for train stations and a signalling system from the 1950s. It's no wonder people aren't using the Towns to shop. I was on the old 263 not long ago and was appalled at the age and muck on the cattle truck they call a bus. No legroom, no easy access, and a suspension system akin to a 1950s Foden milk-tanker.

UTMB

Ok Roofie - I rushed through some of the posts and failed to pick up the parody.

I agree the area now has a feeling of been left behind - its generally not a good thing, but the plus side is that its easier to do things like car travel, because there are fewer motorists than some other parts of the UK where the roads etc are 3 or 4 times more busy than say in the 1970s.

I live near a rural city and the buses literally stop at 5.30pm. The whole county has 4 railway stations.

 

[Wetherby Red]

After being away for almost ten years, I'm always surprised at how "the same" everything is each time I return.

The one thing that is totally different is the amount of traffic (and the number of cars parked up along the side of the roads in residential areas).

I drove from Normanby to Middlesbrough town centre and back yesterday morning and was amazed at how long it took (especiall

y between the A66 and Captain Cook car park), and at how big the queues were at every single set of traffic lights (most taking two cycles to let me through).

Coming from someone who drives through downtown Chicago rush hour five days a week, it's bizarre to find traffic more congested here!

Fair point, have driven through Chicago a few times and it can be worse than Boro at rush hour but Preston is far worse...getting out on Saturday was awful....and they have traffic lights every 10 yards!

 

[goalscrounger]

Fair point, have driven through Chicago a few times and it can be worse than Boro at rush hour but Preston is far worse...getting out on Saturday was awful....and they have traffic lights every 10 yards!

Yeah the freeways into and out of Chicago are infinitely worse than anything I've ever experienced in England. But once you're in the city then it flows way better.