New electronic parking signs for Worcester this May

1:36pm Monday 11th February 2013 in News By Tom Edwards

Traffic gridlock: new signs on the way Traffic gridlock: new signs on the way

NEW congestion-busting electronic signs aimed at easing traffic gridlock in Worcester will go live in May, it has emerged.

For the next three months transport chiefs are going to lay the grounds for a £250,000 overhaul of the city’s council-run car parks.

Special strips will be installed at sites in St Martin’s Gate, the Cattle Market, Cornmarket, Pitchcroft, Copenhagen Street and King Street which count all vehicles entering and leaving.

Those messages will then be relayed to a series of ‘real time’ electronic message boards placed around the city to alert drivers where the best spaces are.

The measure, first revealed in the Worcester News last September, follows concern many motorists spend too long hunting down spaces, especially on weekends.

The idea has already been launched in nearby Birmingham, where it is credited with easing gridlock at peak times.

The electronic signs will be placed in Upper Tything, Bath Road, Tallow Hill, Tolladine Road, opposite Malvern Tyres in Rainbow Hill, London Road, Tybridge Street and Hylton Road.

Councillor Simon Geraghty, the leader of Worcester City Council and deputy leader at County Hall, said: “This project is all about helping motorists travelling into our city.

“I'm sure everyone at some time has endured the frustration of driving around trying to find a space to park, particularly at busy times or when visiting a place for the first time.

“The new system will make it easy to locate the nearest car park which has spaces which is good for those living, working and visiting Worcester.

“Ensuring the city is 'open for business' is a key priority and this helps as it arms motorists with the information to guide them to the closest available parking - saving time and easing congestion on our city centre roads.”

The move comes after council chiefs in Worcester agreed to slash parking prices to as low as 40p for half-an-hour to entice shoppers in.

All-day parking at St Martin’s Gate is now £3.60, compared to the old price of £6, while drivers pay just £1 after 7pm.

Comments(16)

Sir Smeg says...
3:58pm Mon 11 Feb 13

A reasonable idea, maybe some of the traffic lights could be changed to sense waiting traffic at the same time, rather than a green light holding up all other traffic when there's nobody actually at the green light, this would save on congestion and motorists fuel bills at the a stroke.

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MakeUthink says...
4:04pm Mon 11 Feb 13

I would like to see some money spent on solving the problem at the Cross. When vehicles travel along St Nicholas Street towards the Cross they have to enter the yellow box before they can see whether there is enough space for them to exit it on the other side. If not, they are stuck within the hatched lines, preventing buses from travelling back to the station.

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More Tea Vicar says...
4:06pm Mon 11 Feb 13

A very sensible idea, and a good way to invest money in the local economy.

Well done to all concerned.

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lilboo says...
8:36pm Mon 11 Feb 13

Nothing new, Gloucester City have had this for years as you approach the city centre - worcester play catch up as always! Could do better.....

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Lew Smoralz says...
8:36pm Mon 11 Feb 13

Good idea, but the fact remains that I will not pay to park my car so that I can spend money in the city shops.

If you want my money, then do what the out-of-town shopping centres do and provide me with free parking, and it had better not be too far to walk either!

With the advent of shopping on the web and out-of-town centres, the conventional high street is starting to look very medieval. Town councils have a fight on their hands to get shoppers into their inconvenient, boring high streets.

Lastly, what makes the council think that we don't need toilets in the town? As a facility manager the city council are a disaster.

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Biggles says...
9:33pm Mon 11 Feb 13

Lew Smoralz wrote:
Good idea, but the fact remains that I will not pay to park my car so that I can spend money in the city shops. If you want my money, then do what the out-of-town shopping centres do and provide me with free parking, and it had better not be too far to walk either! With the advent of shopping on the web and out-of-town centres, the conventional high street is starting to look very medieval. Town councils have a fight on their hands to get shoppers into their inconvenient, boring high streets. Lastly, what makes the council think that we don't need toilets in the town? As a facility manager the city council are a disaster.
I'm with this chap !
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Have they got the rising bollards working yet ?
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I wonder what chaos they can cause with this latest idea, they don't even seem able to sequence the traffic lights within Worcester.
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The traffic lights in Brum sensed traffic back in the 70's and 80's, so it is about time Worcester caught up.

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saucerer says...
10:18pm Mon 11 Feb 13

Ah yes, the infamous rising bollards. The scheme that really started the catalogue of errors and incompetence from the highways department. And I bet the personal responsible for the bollards is still employed!

Watch this department mess up these new signs too!

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CJH says...
11:07pm Mon 11 Feb 13

It's a lot of money. I've got a blackboard and some chalk if it would help...

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Letterman says...
7:43am Tue 12 Feb 13

Indeed, the rising bollards. Been in for about 10 years and never worked properly or at all. Well worth the £30k cost.

The only thing that was rising was the person's salary who put them in all those years ago, a Tom Comerford at the council who' has probably long since gone.

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Justintime says...
8:48am Tue 12 Feb 13

This will be a complete waste of money unless something is done about vehicles obstructing the road/pavement whilst waiting to collect pizza's to deliver. Sidbury is notorious for it, the drivers have no respect for other road users or the tailbacks they cause. they also routinely contravene the no entry/right turn signs and it's the same vehicles every time. I have twice seen a large goods vehicle unloading outside the fish shop on the corner of Wylds Lane. This vehicle must have come through the no entry signs in Wylds Lane and was preventing traffic turning left from Sidbury and therefore causing the traffic at the lights to gridlock. Is anything done about this, has ANYONE ever been ticketed ???
Save taxpayers money and sort the basics out first !!!!!

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jdg says...
9:25am Tue 12 Feb 13

I went to the Cattle market car park at the week end, expecting to find the parking fees reduced, after the recent publicity. I was dismayed to find they had remained the same, with the exception you can now pay for only half an hour for 40p. Where are the reduced rates to be found?

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liloliluk says...
10:54am Tue 12 Feb 13

So are they going to fix the sensors that are already installed at St Martin's gate that haven't worked for ages? I always thought they were a good idea at the time but they only seemed to work for a short while.

And on the subject of electronic signs on the way in, are they going to make use of the ones that we already have - like the one on Droitwich Road?

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grumpy woman says...
7:10pm Tue 12 Feb 13

The car parks only really get full at Christmas. A lot of money for that.
Better utilise the electronic boards already up which usually are blank or have mindless tips on them.

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CJH says...
7:48pm Tue 12 Feb 13

grumpy woman wrote:
The car parks only really get full at Christmas. A lot of money for that. Better utilise the electronic boards already up which usually are blank or have mindless tips on them.
Don't knock the mindless tips! It probably took a team of highly paid consultants to come up with them...
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I'd like the boards to have useful information such as 'do you need to get milk on the way home?' or reminding me to put some fuel in the car. That would be excellent.

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RobertR says...
9:48pm Tue 12 Feb 13

Perhaps someone could set the lights correctly at the wylds lane and shrub hill junction. It just causes needless congestion. While we're at it what are you paying for ?. no one looks after your car whilst it's parked in the multistorey. In one the carparks in central brum it's not only cheaper but the attendants patrol the site. Like in Pershore the council seems to want drive shoppers away.

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Frodo 4d says...
1:10am Mon 18 Feb 13

To much money for something which will probably stop working and be forgotten about.

Why not put the extra money towards the sports complex which is going to perdiswell (if that ever happens)

Surely it could be put towards a ice rink or something to keep up with the surrounding cities.

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