Richmond seems like a nice place. It has a pleasant riverside, a good
variety of shops, and pretty good public transport.

It's a shame it seems to be totally clogged with cars. The environment
outside the railway station is pretty unpleasant, and makes a stark
contrast from the riverside. The bus station is also in a very odd place
and seemed to be rather poorly used (considering it serves such a busy
town) when I passed through it.

What consideration has been given to closing the road outside the
station to private vehicles, given that they can't stop there anyway to
visit the shops as there are stopping restrictions along the entire
length of the street? Church Road looks like an appropriate diversionary
route on paper, but is it so in practice?

--
Dave Arquati
Imperial College, SW7
www.alwaystouchout.com - Transport projects in London

"Dave Arquati" wrote in message
...
Richmond seems like a nice place. It has a pleasant riverside, a good
variety of shops, and pretty good public transport.

What consideration has been given to closing the road outside the station
to private vehicles, given that they can't stop there anyway

Doesn't it even have an exemption to allow cars to stop for the length of
time that it takes to drop someone off at the station? Many station
forecourts have short-term parking which allows you to stop for up to 20
minutes on station business (ie dropping off, picking up of buying a ticket
for travel later).

I'm trying to remember whether Richmond station fronts directly onto the
road or whether it has a layby where taxis etc wait.

Presumably if the road outside the station is closed, all that will happen
is that all the people dropping their spouses off at the station on their
own way to work by car will stop in the nearest street where stopping *is*
allowed, thereby transferring the congestion from one place to another. At
least drivers expect people to be stopping outside the station, whereas they
won't be so prepared for it in any other street.

Martin Underwood wrote:
"Dave Arquati" wrote in message
...
Richmond seems like a nice place. It has a pleasant riverside, a good
variety of shops, and pretty good public transport.

What consideration has been given to closing the road outside the
station to private vehicles, given that they can't stop there anyway

Doesn't it even have an exemption to allow cars to stop for the
length of time that it takes to drop someone off at the station? Many
station forecourts have short-term parking which allows you to stop
for up to 20 minutes on station business (ie dropping off, picking up
of buying a ticket for travel later).

I'm trying to remember whether Richmond station fronts directly onto
the road or whether it has a layby where taxis etc wait.

It has a layby.

Dave Arquati wrote:
Richmond seems like a nice place. It has a pleasant riverside, a
good variety of shops, and pretty good public transport.

It's a shame it seems to be totally clogged with cars. The
environment outside the railway station is pretty unpleasant, and
makes a stark contrast from the riverside. The bus station is also
in a very odd place and seemed to be rather poorly used
(considering it serves such a busy town) when I passed through it.

It was probably the only available site, and it's not bad from an
operational point of view, being just off the one-way system. But the
stops on the roads in the town centre are more convenient for most
people.

What consideration has been given to closing the road outside the
station to private vehicles, given that they can't stop there
anyway to visit the shops as there are stopping restrictions along
the entire length of the street? Church Road looks like an
appropriate diversionary route on paper, but is it so in practice?

Well, for a start, there's a public car park next to the station, though
it might be possible to construct a different access to it. There were
plans for pedestrianisation in the 1970s which never came to anything.
Not sure if the subject has been raised more recently. Church Road is
fine off-peak for traffic entering Richmond from the A316, but in the
other direction tailbacks from the Richmond Circus roundabout (A316/A307
junction) clog the right turn out of Church Road.

--
Richard J.
(to e-mail me, swap uk and yon in address)

"Dave Arquati" wrote in message
...

The bus station is also in a very odd place and
seemed to be rather poorly used (considering
it serves such a busy town) when I passed through it.

A bus station is a glorified turnaround layby, and there is no reason why
the public should be using any bus station in significant numbers. Richmond
is probably the only bus station in London which is in the right place,
because it is well away from the high land values around the station.
Nothing is more ridiculous than wasting valuable land next to a train
station to park buses for 20 minutes, when there could be a traffic
generator there instead.

--
John Rowland - Spamtrapped
Transport Plans for the London Area, updated 2001
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Acro...69/tpftla.html
A man's vehicle is a symbol of his manhood.
That's why my vehicle's the Piccadilly Line -
It's the size of a county and it comes every two and a half minutes

"John Rowland" wrote in message
...
"Dave Arquati" wrote in message
...

The bus station is also in a very odd place and
seemed to be rather poorly used (considering
it serves such a busy town) when I passed through it.

A bus station is a glorified turnaround layby, and there is no reason why
the public should be using any bus station in significant numbers.
Richmond
is probably the only bus station in London which is in the right place,
because it is well away from the high land values around the station.
Nothing is more ridiculous than wasting valuable land next to a train
station to park buses for 20 minutes, when there could be a traffic
generator there instead.


You don't think placing a bus station next to the raqilways station would be
a better option to improve modal interchange?

Brimstone wrote:

You don't think placing a bus station next to the railways
station would be a better option to improve modal interchange?

The bus station _is_ next to the railway station - all of the routes
which call at Richmond Bus Station also stop in front of the railway
station. The only thing that is lost is the ability to board an empty
bus.

Richard J. wrote:

It was probably the only available site, and it's not bad from
an operational point of view, being just off the one-way system.
But the stops on the roads in the town centre are more convenient
for most people.

Not really. One of the major stops near the Square is on a very thin
sidewalk, and is so busy that people regularly spill out into the
street. Very dangerous in heavy traffic, as it forces people to walk
out in the street to avoid the crowds.

Well, for a start, there's a public car park next to the station,
though it might be possible to construct a different access to it.

Not really. It's hemmed in by buildings on all sides.

There were plans for pedestrianisation in the 1970s which never
came to anything. Not sure if the subject has been raised more
recently. Church Road is fine off-peak for traffic entering
Richmond from the A316, but in the other direction tailbacks from
the Richmond Circus roundabout (A316/A307 junction) clog the right
turn out of Church Road.

The problem with the inner parts of Richmond (i.e. George Street and
the Quad) is that it is used by everyone coming inward from the A305
Sheen Rd., Richmond Bridge via Hill Street and Petersham Road to get
onto the A316. If more people went via Queens Road to Sheen Road,
across the Windsor lines and down into the Manor Road area, it could
improve things enormously.

In message .com,
TheOneKEA writes

The bus station _is_ next to the railway station - all of the routes
which call at Richmond Bus Station also stop in front of the railway
station.

'fraid not.

Routes 33, 337, 485 and N10 all serve the bus station but do NOT go past
the railway station.

--
Paul Terry

John Rowland wrote:
"Dave Arquati" wrote in message
...

The bus station is also in a very odd place and
seemed to be rather poorly used (considering
it serves such a busy town) when I passed through it.


A bus station is a glorified turnaround layby, and there is no reason why
the public should be using any bus station in significant numbers. Richmond
is probably the only bus station in London which is in the right place,
because it is well away from the high land values around the station.
Nothing is more ridiculous than wasting valuable land next to a train
station to park buses for 20 minutes, when there could be a traffic
generator there instead.

Hmm... I'd say that a bus station should be a useful interchange
location; whether they turn around there isn't necessarily part and
parcel of it being a bus station. The bus depot could be somewhere else.

IMHO, Hammersmith is a best-practice example of what can be achieved at
a bus station.


--
Dave Arquati
Imperial College, SW7
www.alwaystouchout.com - Transport projects in London