One law for all....but not according to English Heritage!

A few weeks ago, I posted up the TRO or Traffic Regulation Order set up by Wiltshire Council to come into effect from Wednesday 18th June at 0800 in readiness for the coming Summer Solstice......so here is now, to save you looking back.....

This is a lawful arrangement submitted by English Heritage closing Byway 12 to all vehicles, cyclists, riders, and pedestrians.   However, from the photos following, E H as custodians of the WHS, obviously don't seem to think it applies to them.....

I thank my learned friend at STAG for these photos, when he took a ride on his bike along the road previously known as the A344, which was closed by EH a year ago to accommodate the new Visitor's Centre.   At times, we talk about the law being an ass....(for Americans, this is not the bit we sit on)

and here is just another instance of this because the A344 should never have been closed before improvements were made to the A303, which is already under pressure and this will be become more evident this weekend when 35,000 people are expected.   There is apparently car parking for 6.5 thousand vehicles and even on my 1950's schooling in Glasgow, that doesn't actually equate to 35,000 bodies, perhaps another 2 thousand places may be needed.....that's if you actually get a place having negotiated the already sinking A303!!!
Anyway, I digress.....and to get back to the photos that show the lovely new liveried buses in painted mud brown - WIL, LIL, & TIL - (see the number plates)  breaking the law by using Byway 12.   The new buses are replacing the land trains....we told you there would be problems with the land trains in my blog: "Uncle Simon's New Tin Shed" 7/01/14 but you didn't take it on board!!!

Some drivers are in fact doing the right thing and using the nice new turning circle.  But some, on the other hand, are it has to be said, a little lazy and using Byway 12 to reverse into, stop for a quick fag....oops! sorry break, and pull out to collect the next lot of tourists.   This is where these drivers obviously think that English Heritage are above the law.  
Should any of us - the general public, be unfortunate enough to wander onto Byway 12 - by mistake of course, within the duration of the TRO and are accosted by the law, these photos are time dated and can be copied for production in a court of law in their defence....
The Law is the Law after all!!!

Please help us get the A303 improved past Stonehenge and a by-pass around Winterbourne Stoke by signing our petition at:
www.sh2.co.uk

A303 Flyers with matching accessories!

Flyers given out on the A303 to you, the travelling public, definitely work! The flyers mean that you all get back to signing the petition again and numbers start pouring in.....please tell your friends to sign too at: www.sh2.co.uk   When we crossed over Countess roundabout - to reach our usual slot at West Amesbury, where the A303 goes down to single carriageway, we clocked the
SPARKES TRANSPORT
man waiting at the lights.   He took 14 minutes to reach us at West Amesbury.....
just 1.1  miles.......S.N.A.S.U. again folks.....sorry!  
(SNASU: situation normal, another snarl up!)
In an effort to appear professional, we STAGGERS were anxious to show off our new all matching livery.....matching posters, flyers, lawn sign and....the new T-shirts.   So here we are today Friday 13th for just little over an hour over midday.....did you see us?   Thanks if you accepted our flyer and I hope you've already used it wisely.   If you didn't accept the flyer.....the queue will be here next time you use the A303 around Stonehenge!   Quite a party atmosphere out on the A303 today!   My thanks to Tony Bull another STAG supporter for taking these piccys!

Along with increased volume of traffic to the west country - all good for the economy - another reason for being stuck in the queue, is the decision by English Heritage www.english-heritage.0rg.uk to close the A344 past Stonehenge prior to improvements to the A303.  The A344 was closed one year ago today folks.....

SUMMER SOLSTICE 2014 hints and tips

.....And another meeting!
This time, hosted by the lovely Kate Davies: General Manager at Stonehenge World Heritage Site (WHS) the subject for discussion:
SUMMER SOLSTICE AT STONEHENGE 2014

English Heritage is pleased to be providing Managed Open Access to Stonehenge for the Summer Solstice on 20-21 June 2014. Please help us to create a peaceful occasion by taking personal responsibility and following the Conditions of Entry and guidelines set out on these pages. The full Conditions of Entry can also be downloaded from the right hand side of this page:

 

 

http://www.english- ties/stonehenge/summer-solstice/?lang=en

 

TIMINGS FOR SUMMER SOLSTICE:

• SOLSTICE CAR PARK OPENS
  19.00 hours (7pm) Friday 20 June
• ACCESS TO STONEHENGE
  19.00 hours (7pm) Friday 20 June
• LAST ADMISSION TO SOLSTICE CAR PARK
  06.00 hours (6am) Saturday 21 June
• STONEHENGE CLOSES
  08.00 hours (8am) Saturday 21 June
• SOLSTICE CAR PARK TO BE VACATED
  12.00 hours (12 Noon) Saturday 21 June

We hope the weather will be kind and wish you a peaceful and celebratory solstice.

Sunset and sunrise occur at the following times:

Sunset on Friday 20 June 2014 is at 21.26 hrs (9.26pm)
Sunrise on Saturday 21 June 2014 is at 04.52 hrs (4.52am)

The meeting also included a presentation from The Good Inspector Lange: Sector Inspector for Wiltshire Police, who provided the run down of security, closures to Byway 12 and what it would be used for, car parking, disabled access, first aid/lost souls and lots of things of a Police nature.
Provided the weather is kind, Wiltshire Police expect crowds of up to 30,000 people to descend on Stonehenge this Solstice......therefore: I thank General Disquiet for this map of car park arrangements:

If you need to contact the Police during your stay in the area...please call the
Wiltshire dedicated Police line on: 101
Matrix signs are already out on the A303 from as far back as the M3 telling revellers that the car park at Stonehenge is filling up or may even be full - expected by 21.00!!!  So! if you're journey to the West Country isn't urgent....If I were you, I would take in some rays at home instead!

Another little point to take into account, is the well known use of the area of Salisbury Plain for training our Armed Forces.   So! should you wander into areas you're not familiar with and  you come across one of these.......>
It does not signify.....
"The Party's Here folks"!!! because you may well
 be faced with one of these....!!! 

May Bank Holiday - East bound - on the A303!

And so to follow-on from my post "May Bank Holiday - West bound".....here Watch Bustard & wife of W. B.

 have just 20 minutes at Longbarrow around 1pm last Sunday.....why do they all leave the going home till the very last minute??

With the "soliton" and "periodicity" effect in evidence approximately every 4 minutes, wife of W.B. was able to get more of her flyers out to get you all to sign our petition to improve the A303 in this area at: www.sh2.co.uk

SOLITON & PERIODICITY....see our sister blog: http://bypasswinterbournestoke.blogspot.com
for the full description of how a "Soliton" is formed and the "Periodicity" of one....by you the travelling public!

Clearly, heading homeward is not conducive to the "calm and contented mind".  
On the west bound leg.....hurrah! we've hit the queue at Stonehenge...but we're going on holiday...so who cares!    East bound....same vehicles and their contents...possibly different driver because father has been in a fowl mood since yesterday at the thought of returning to work.   Many of you wound down your windows and accepted the flyer - but only when you clocked that it wasn't me with a begging bowl, trying to sell pizzas, carpets, or promoting the local indian cuisine!!   However, lots of drivers gave the "I've not seen you" look, or "your not really there" look, and some even give the negative wave - to which I'm soarly tempted to shout - (windows firmly closed)....."I'm doing
this for you, you know!!!
So! soliton has now become jam up and
starting with this picture on the left....look for the red bus trying to turn left onto the A303 out of the A360 - probably taken a wrong-n from the bus park at Stonehenge....will anyone let him out....your darn right they won't.....this is my space and your not having it!!!
Block up the roundabout....who me?....even tho' I've nowhere to go....your still not having my place on the A303!!!

Different vehicles this time and still blocking Longbarrow to get their place onto the A303.....red bus is still there trying to be allowed a space to come out......
see the red car in the distance...

Red car has now managed to get around the roundabout to take up his rightful place.....red bus is still there!!!
And now it looks like the A360 from Salisbury is getting blocked too.









So now it's all clogged up all the way around, and I'm not sure if the red bus is still there to our left!!

Watch Bustard would like to pass on our apologies to Wiltshire's finest, when they would have seen our nest parked just under the newly installed Highways Agency traffic camera....sorry! it was the only place we could safely park to continue our campaign to dual the A303 and after ward, not have to join the throngs eastbound!!!   As you are aware, we nest on Salisbury Plain!

That Feasibility Study again...an up date!

If you're one who follows my posts, you will already have read....Meetings - B - Meetings from October last year which has had 54 hits......and we're still attending meetings even now, about what to do with the A303, how much will it cost, which section will be started first etc etc....
The latest Feasibility Study has been in progress since January 2014 with meetings held in Taunton on two occasions but without representation from anyone locally, including STAG....our Man on the ground having been put off in January when Dft promised to keep us up to speed with progress.   Another meeting took place on 24th May and we have to thank our MP John Glen johnglenmp.com for providing the relevant detail discussed.   This comes in the form of short slides allowing you to pick and choose those you may wish to query with Department of Transport's [mailto:Deborah.Lewis@dft.gsi.gov.uk]
All in all, very encouraging and this time, they have taken into account traffic flow on the A303 that has been missed on previous studies - i.e. the peaks at weekends and around public holidays and school holiday.

We at STAG have written to Dft as we had a few queries with some of the information on a few of the slides:

1) "CURRENT SUMMER MONTH STRESS"
we feel that the section of green line east of Amesbury should have been yellow.  We as locals know that the stress on this section of the A303 can go back as far as the A338 at peak times during the summer months.

2) "JOURNEY TIME RELIABILITY"
Since the closure of the A344 at Stonehenge, in our opinion, the whole measurement is well out for the section of A303 from A338 to Berwick Down.  Check out this blog for further knowledge of the area now.

3) "FATAL AND SERIO0US ACCIDENT LOCATIONS - UNIMPROVED SECTIONS:
Looking at the section in light blue for Stonehenge - Amesbury to Berwick Down, the graph appears percentage wise, to show that this 
section of the A303 on the face of it, is "safer" since the slice is narrower, perhaps giving the impression that....all's well and no need to do anything.   Everyone who has used this bit of the A303 during recent years, know that the traffic is either slow or stopped and therefore, accidents are less likely.

4) "CURRENT AVERAGE DAILY TRAFFIC FLOWS (October 2013)
We trust that whilst calculating the traffic flows on the A303, Dft will take into account "knock on effects" on local villages and towns.   "Rat Running" through this area to avoid the hold ups on the Stonehenge section of A303, could "muddy the figures".   The increased traffic causes extra "stress" in and around this area and
should be taken into account.  I quote here from my learn-ed colleague at STAG: "Clearly, use of these diversionary routes have an impact on the perceived congestion and stress on the A303 - effectively underestimating it.   They will also have an impact, social and financial, on the economic case that is being studied in the next phase of the study, and if they are ignored, risk underestimating the cost benefit of dualling the A303 along its entire length.