Post by Dave on Mar 20, 2011 19:34:09 GMT
Anyone who ever has to use the Tweenaway junction to get to work, home or anywhere for that matter, will know it’s a very congested junction. Over the years improvements such as two lanes up and two lanes down the Brixham Road side of the traffic lights up to the next set of traffic lights have been carried out.
Last year some widening of the road was carried out for a short stretch on the Totnes and Paignton side of the traffic lights and this was phase one of three lots of improvements for the junction.
It must now be over four or even five months that phase two was started and work is due to stop in June for the holiday season and then carry on again after that. As a driver who finds for months on end the journey to and from work, or just leaving home to get anywhere and back home again, is being heavily delayed by these road works, I do end up wondering if when the work is finished, if it’s really going to make a big difference.
If that is the case then maybe I won’t mind so much the short term pain for the long term gain, but I’m sure like me you have seen many so called road improvement schemes that when they were finished, the traffic flow was even worse than it was before.
It took me 20 minutes yesterday just to get from Borough Road to the traffic lights at the Tweenaway junction and I don’t even want to talk about how long it is now taking to get down Kings Ash Road and through the traffic lights.
What gets my goat a bit is you never hardly see anyone actually doing any work, just plenty of workmen standing around and trying to look like they are doing something. As someone who spends his whole working day on the road, I have seen many road improvements done in other places and was amazed who quickly they were completed.
Not the case at Tweenaway I’m afraid and looking at the junction now, I just wonder why they are working on every part of it and not at least concentrate on finishing one part of it. At least if that happened, the traffic on some parts of the junction would not have to suffer the long waiting times that everyone at each part of the junction has too.
Many of the houses across the road from me are losing parts of their front gardens. I’m still trying to work out why as I do not believe a third lane will be made going up the Brixham Road to the set of lights at the top of it.
On that side of the road are the large poles that carried the mains electric cables across the main road to the houses on the side I live on. About three months ago a new underground mains cable was laid under the path at the front of my house and we were connected up to that and disconnected from the overhead power cable. They were taken down last week in the middle of the night. Mind you about two years ago I came home and found the power was off and when I looked outside I could see why. The mains power cable coming over the road had been pulled down by a lorry that had somthing sticking up from it that was too high to go under the cable. Boys do those babies dance and spark when they are pulled down.
While that was being down the path could not be used for months and I have just learned the gas board are now going to dig it all up again to put in a new mains gas pipe. Don’t these companies ever commutate with each other?
With the aid of Google street view I have been able to get shots of how it all looked a year or so ago and have taken some shots this afternoon to show the changing face of the Tweenaway junction.
The houses that were next to the Noah’s Ark pub have all gone, they have been empty for years so that one day these improvements could go ahead. The two houses on the Totnes Road side of the junction right by the lights were also meant to be pulled down, but they have now just nicked most of the garden of the end house. This house has also been empty for a number of years and is now being used as a base for the workmen.
Its going to be interesting to see what happens to the Ark that was built three years ago on the front of the Noah’s Ark pub. They have been told it has to go and in one shot I have taken you can see just why. Where the houses once stood that is clearly going to be a road and you won’t be able to get onto it as long as the Ark is still standing.
It does seem a shame really as that pub was always a bit of a rough pub and the new owners did spend a great deal of money when they took the pub over to make it into a very smart pub compared to how it once was.
There was talk a few years ago about building a footbridge over the junction for the school kids to use, if ever there was a busy junction that needed such a footbridge, Tweenaway sure is. But I do not believe it is being built now and anyone who uses the junction around 3pm on school days, will know all the kids seem to have some sort of death wish as they cross the road when and where ever they feel like.
These improvements will give extra width on all four corners of the junction and some extra lanes on the approaches to the traffic lights, but the whole junction will still be controlled by traffic lights.
I only hope they are better then the crap ones there now that due to how busy the junction gets, are not on demand lights, but ones that go through a timed sequence. The only problem at the moment with that is that at 5am on my way to work they nearly always change to red when I get to them. Then I have to sit there a good five minutes or more while they go through their sequence and let all the imaginary traffic go through the lights.
Looking from Brixham Road across the Kings Ash Road
Before
Now
Looking up Totnes Road
Before
Now
Looking up Brixham Road
Before
Now
Looking from Totnes Road toward the town
Before
Now
Looking toward the lights from the town side
Before
Now
The tile shop that was once a co-op on beside the lights on the Kings Ash side.
Before
Now
You can see why the Ark has to go
Last year some widening of the road was carried out for a short stretch on the Totnes and Paignton side of the traffic lights and this was phase one of three lots of improvements for the junction.
It must now be over four or even five months that phase two was started and work is due to stop in June for the holiday season and then carry on again after that. As a driver who finds for months on end the journey to and from work, or just leaving home to get anywhere and back home again, is being heavily delayed by these road works, I do end up wondering if when the work is finished, if it’s really going to make a big difference.
If that is the case then maybe I won’t mind so much the short term pain for the long term gain, but I’m sure like me you have seen many so called road improvement schemes that when they were finished, the traffic flow was even worse than it was before.
It took me 20 minutes yesterday just to get from Borough Road to the traffic lights at the Tweenaway junction and I don’t even want to talk about how long it is now taking to get down Kings Ash Road and through the traffic lights.
What gets my goat a bit is you never hardly see anyone actually doing any work, just plenty of workmen standing around and trying to look like they are doing something. As someone who spends his whole working day on the road, I have seen many road improvements done in other places and was amazed who quickly they were completed.
Not the case at Tweenaway I’m afraid and looking at the junction now, I just wonder why they are working on every part of it and not at least concentrate on finishing one part of it. At least if that happened, the traffic on some parts of the junction would not have to suffer the long waiting times that everyone at each part of the junction has too.
Many of the houses across the road from me are losing parts of their front gardens. I’m still trying to work out why as I do not believe a third lane will be made going up the Brixham Road to the set of lights at the top of it.
On that side of the road are the large poles that carried the mains electric cables across the main road to the houses on the side I live on. About three months ago a new underground mains cable was laid under the path at the front of my house and we were connected up to that and disconnected from the overhead power cable. They were taken down last week in the middle of the night. Mind you about two years ago I came home and found the power was off and when I looked outside I could see why. The mains power cable coming over the road had been pulled down by a lorry that had somthing sticking up from it that was too high to go under the cable. Boys do those babies dance and spark when they are pulled down.
While that was being down the path could not be used for months and I have just learned the gas board are now going to dig it all up again to put in a new mains gas pipe. Don’t these companies ever commutate with each other?
With the aid of Google street view I have been able to get shots of how it all looked a year or so ago and have taken some shots this afternoon to show the changing face of the Tweenaway junction.
The houses that were next to the Noah’s Ark pub have all gone, they have been empty for years so that one day these improvements could go ahead. The two houses on the Totnes Road side of the junction right by the lights were also meant to be pulled down, but they have now just nicked most of the garden of the end house. This house has also been empty for a number of years and is now being used as a base for the workmen.
Its going to be interesting to see what happens to the Ark that was built three years ago on the front of the Noah’s Ark pub. They have been told it has to go and in one shot I have taken you can see just why. Where the houses once stood that is clearly going to be a road and you won’t be able to get onto it as long as the Ark is still standing.
It does seem a shame really as that pub was always a bit of a rough pub and the new owners did spend a great deal of money when they took the pub over to make it into a very smart pub compared to how it once was.
There was talk a few years ago about building a footbridge over the junction for the school kids to use, if ever there was a busy junction that needed such a footbridge, Tweenaway sure is. But I do not believe it is being built now and anyone who uses the junction around 3pm on school days, will know all the kids seem to have some sort of death wish as they cross the road when and where ever they feel like.
These improvements will give extra width on all four corners of the junction and some extra lanes on the approaches to the traffic lights, but the whole junction will still be controlled by traffic lights.
I only hope they are better then the crap ones there now that due to how busy the junction gets, are not on demand lights, but ones that go through a timed sequence. The only problem at the moment with that is that at 5am on my way to work they nearly always change to red when I get to them. Then I have to sit there a good five minutes or more while they go through their sequence and let all the imaginary traffic go through the lights.
Looking from Brixham Road across the Kings Ash Road
Before
Now
Looking up Totnes Road
Before
Now
Looking up Brixham Road
Before
Now
Looking from Totnes Road toward the town
Before
Now
Looking toward the lights from the town side
Before
Now
The tile shop that was once a co-op on beside the lights on the Kings Ash side.
Before
Now
You can see why the Ark has to go
