Confusion Reigns

   Last week we were looking at the Stanton Wagon on the island at the northern end of Chalons Way but confusion reigned at the southern end one day last week. The traffic lights at the pedestrian crossing are being replaced and the work is expected to take three or four weeks which has necessitated the closing of one or more lanes at various times. As vehicles approached Chalons Way warning signs indicated the one lane (of two) was closed but one sign showed the left hand lane and another showed the right as the picture below shows. 

   It looks as though the new lights are of a different design to the old ones and the indicators for pedestrians to cross are no longer directly in front but are to one side which means that if someone is standing next to you, then you can't see when they change to green. Also if the lights are the same design as others that have been replaced, there will be no audible signal to aid the visually impaired. If this is progress it is not very good. I doubt that these traffic lights are in the running for any design awards. Confusion will continue to reign even when the warning signs are removed and the work is complete.

Zig-Zag

   So another week passes by, another wet Bank Holiday Monday due, another government fiasco regarding GCSE results - did they or didn't they influence the Examining Boards? Another Royal embarrassment by all accounts but I'm still puzzled by what the BBC described as a "naked photo". What on earth is a "naked" photo? I presume it is something different to a photo of a naked person - or am I just being my usual pedantic self?

   To top it all, yet more idiot drivers throughout the week parking on zig-zag lines and one in particular causing mayhem on Saturday. Some things change for the better, some things for the worse - some things never change at all but when an accident happens and someone gets seriously injured or even killed on the pedestrian crossing on South Street, don't say you weren't warned. See The Highway Code Rule 191.

A Station For Ilkeston

There was a final push in the town centre on Saturday to gather signatures for a petition calling for a return of a railway station to the town. Now whilst I think this is a good idea, I cannot wholeheartedly support the campaign as logic and common sense tells me the preferred location is in the wrong place. Ilkeston Junction is served by one half-hourly bus service and access to a station there will only increase traffic along Station Road when the stated objective is to reduce it there. The narrow railway bridge over the line, is rusting away and is desperately in need of repair Four councils, Erewash, Broxtowe, Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire would all be involved in the planning process at this location.

   My (and probably many other people's too) preferred location would be on the old Trowell Station site. This involves only two of the councils, is served by two bus routes, the Two every 12 minutes and the 15 every 20 and the bridge over the line was replaced about eight years ago. Access is much easier for the majority of the town's population and would not exacerbate the Station Road situation.

   Talking to our MP on Saturday who is pressing for the new station, I was informed that it is hoped to introduce a shuttle bus service from the new station to the town centre to bring students in to the relocated Derby College. The problem there is the plan intended to regenerate the town centre is to build a supermarket on the existing college site thus having the opposite effect by drawing people away from the town centre. All parties involved should get their act together as at the moment there is a distinct lack of joined up thinking.
 

   I don't write these things purely and simply because I've reached the "grumpy old man" stage of life although that may have a bearing on the tone. Being born and bred here and having lived in the town all my life, I care for the place. I wouldn't have being doing my bit to try and promote it for the last ten years with the Ilkeston Cam website if I didn't. But seeing the detrimental effect Ilkeston has suffered with previous well-intentioned decisions, it's vital we get this one right and logically the best place for a station is the former Trowell Station site.

A Grey Day

I went through a walk through the town centre this morning but there was not much to see - mainly due to the fog! The forecast said there would be some bright intervals but the fog could linger in some places and Ilkeston turned out to be one of those places. By 4 o'clock when the Friday afternoon rush was in full swing, it was already dropping dark and the fog was getting thicker. My mother-in-law used to call days like this one of those dark dismal days before Christmas and she wasn't wrong; it's been a really grey day from morning till night.

Coney Island

Here's Ilkeston's answer to the famous American amusement park that goes by the name of Coney Island.

Ilkeston's venue is only open for a few days though as the traffic islands on Chalons Way are resurfaced overnight. During the day the cones are moved off the road but left close by.

Black Friday

Friday the 13th was certainly unlucky for someone today as can be seen by the parking ticket on this illegally parked car.

It was quite a surprise to see this as there is hardly a day goes by that you don't see a traffic violation of some sort in the town but only very rarely do you see the law being enforced. We'll probably have to wait now for another Black Friday before we see it again.

Closed

The balloon laden children of yesterday were nowhere to be seen this afternoon as the shops closed their doors for half-day closing. In fact there were not a lot of people about at all and the roads were also clear of traffic.

Tomorrow if everything is true to form the cones will be out on Chalons Way and vehicles will be nose to tail all the way along whilst shoppers will fill the town centre as it is a market day. Why the planners can't use a bit of common sense and send the litter pickers and grass cutters to do their work on Chalons Way on a Wednesday when it would not cause major disruption instead of a Thursday is beyond me. Maybe that's to easy for them or they just want to inconvenience as many people as they can! Is it any wonder I'm a G.O.M!

If Only ....

Can't help thinking it would have been better if a policeman or a traffic warden rather than the community warden had stopped this vehicle that had gone through a No Entry sign to a pedestrian zone. When traffic is allowed it is one way in the opposite direction as can be seen by the white arrow on the blue circle. The hope is he'll learn from his mistake and won't do it again ... but I doubt it! After all, traffic laws don't seem to apply in Ilkeston.

Get Well Soon

This lady was in a hospital bed on Saturday morning  but she still looked happy enough.

She was taking part in the Ilkeston Community Hospital's League of Friends' annual bed push and was part of the Rotary Club's team raising funds for the local hospital. Other teams came from Manners Ward and Oakwell Ward at the hospital but after pushing the bed up the hill, they were all looking forward to being met by the Mayor and sampling the drinks available at a stall on the Market Place.

It's a surprise though that no-one actually needed the bed for real on Saturday as while the team paused for photographs, the bed and pedestrians had to move to the side to allow a large white van to illegally make its way through the pedestrian zone.

Slow Down

There was more evidence of the tar spraying and road resurfacing today with signs requesting drivers to limit their speed to 10mph. These two signs were on the corner at the cemetery.

I don't know if they had any effect but maybe if they had been there some time ago, then the cemetery wall and railings would not have been demolished where it looks as though a vehicle went through. There's been a temporary fence there for months now and I seriously wonder if it will ever be repaired. It's obviously not high on the council's list of priorities - spreading grit everywhere that flies off the road and onto the pavements obviously is.

Thankful

I've got a headache, my nose is streaming, it's raining and I'm not very warm either. There's a fault with Blogger and I can't upload today's photo at the moment so I'm having to write this in Notepad and hopefully will be able to copy it across when the fault has been resolved. Doesn't sound like one of my better days does it? I'm thankful though that I wasn't caught in the teatime traffic jam. There were a lot of people on Nottingham Road going nowhere fast. At least I was on foot and travelling much faster than all these vehicles that were almost at a standstill so it was quickly off home for another dose of paracetamol before doing today's post - but then Blogger went belly up! Oh well, things can only get better and if the Tricky Reds beat the Magpies tonight that will make up for the rest of the day.

Late update:

Well that just about sums it up. Newcastle 2 Forest 0 and when I switched my digital radio on to listen to the match, that didn't work either. I'm going to bed and hoping for a better day tomorrow.

Confusion & Chaos

At one time of day you could rely on the Council workmen to let you know what day it was. If there were cones out on Chalons Way to protect them as they tended to the verges then it was Tuesday. They've been missing for a few weeks though but reappeared today, Thursday. Not only that, the refuse collectors now come on Thursday instead of Monday and if you haven't got your wits about you, it can all be a little confusing.


I wonder though why the person responsible for planning the work would choose Thursday to reduce the width of Chalons Way by 50%. Thursday is a market day and so there is usually more traffic in town and the result of today's actions meant a foul up of traffic around the islands at each end of the road. So to add to the confusion, we also had traffic chaos. I bet it was some faceless bureaucrat who knows little about Ilkeston and cares even less, sat in an office somewhere (probably at Long Eaton) leaving his workforce to face the wrath of furious drivers and the populace of the town unnecessarily inconvenienced as public transport caught in the traffic were unable to keep to their published timetables.

Where Are They?

Usually when we come out of church on Sunday morning there are four or five taxis standing outside the Library despite parking restrictions that say they should only be there between 6pm and 6am. Today there was not one to be seen anywhere in the area.


Whether someone has had a word with the drivers or whether they were not working for some reason I don't know but I just had to take a picture as proof that sometimes the traffic regulations are adhered to.

Don't Blame The Driver

Friday's experience of standing in the cold and wet waiting for a bus in Heanor didn't exactly put us off using public transport so we went out on Saturday morning with the intention of taking the half-hourly bus up to the Market Place - just in time to see it going up the road. Now you can normally rely on this service being at least a few minutes late but just for once it was bang on time. So we walked up the hill did our shopping and then walked down Bath Street from the Market Place and did manage to catch a bus that took us most of the way back home.


Then I forgot to transfer the pictures from the camera until this morning and missed posting this blog yesterday. What did I say about buses being late? It happens to the best of us so better late than never and I'll try and remember to post today's blog later this afternoon.

Same Old Story

It was the same old story on Bath Street at 3 o'clock. A white van drove up and stopped outside the Albion Centre. The driver got out went into McDonald's and returned laden with his "happy meal" a few minutes later before continuing in his vehicle up the pedestrian zone. He followed another white van that had entered Bath Street from Mount Street passing through a No Entry sign on the way. I was going to put an image here but I guess you'll get the picture anyway. You'll soon be as tired of my constant moaning about this as I am about seeing all these traffic violations. Enough!

This picture is another old story that occurs around about this time every year. Global warming notwithstanding, it's been a pretty cold and lengthy winter and no doubt the spring flowers are being delayed but a few crocuses have put in an appearance in our garden. They are offered some protection by the leaves of another plant but are still a welcome sight. The trouble is that means the weeds are starting to show too so I'll have to make the effort and get the garden in order before it's too late.

The School Run - NOT

I can feel a theme developing here as I was out this afternoon just as the schools were turning out again. There was a lot of traffic about but it was comparatively quiet on Cavendish Road. The buildings that once housed the Cavendish Girls' School, then Cantelupe School and latterly part of the South East Derbyshire College now stand empty. With overgrown hedges, walls that are falling down, broken windows and tarmac playgrounds full of holes the whole site is fast becoming derelict whilst decisions are made as to its future - more housing no doubt once the recession ends.


Another school made the headlines today as a large fire has destroyed the technology block at Heanor Gate with the consequent loss of the pupils' work. Interested parties are being told to find the latest news on the School's website but I thought it slightly inappropriate that the home page contains this image.


So that's one former school and another current one locally where there will be no "school run" today!

The School Run

After my outburst over the last couple of days about traffic violations, I was pleasantly surprised this afternoon to see a contingent from the local constabulary plus community wardens on Bath Street AND cyclist riding down the hill were being stopped and told that a) it was a pedestrian zone and b) even when traffic is allowed on the street, it is one way only and that is up the hill.


On my way home however I was just in time to see the school run on Cantelupe Road where vehicles were double parked with some on the pavement causing traffic congestion in both directions and probably a safety hazard for the children too. Ah well, you can't win them all and at least they weren't on Bath Street!