The Coffee Shop is not only about rail services to and from stations - it's also about the "final mile" from home / work / leisure / hospital etc to station, about bus journeys, and about local journeys by foot or cycle too - All sustainable transport. In answer to an invite to list local projects - some of which involve public transport - I wrote this up here. I'm sure similar write-ups could be done for other towns ... so much is about the best way to trickle down and make best use of new beginning and restart funding for the best benefit of the longer term.
Government is making £2 billion for short term improvements for walking and cycling. There is also funding available this year for bus service improvements, and for rail improvements.
Although anything we do to reduce global warming is spread out across the world, those same things also clean our air locally. We have enjoyed much cleaner air with reduced fossil fuelled private transport recently, and in the UK▸ 40,000 per annum have been dying prematurely due to dirty air.
Government is supporting the cleaner, sustainable option. The Melksham Neighbourhood plan appears very supportive. 80% of the community put health and quality of life as a higher priority than the economy - reduces to 66% once the Coronavirus problem is overcome.
Locally, the area board can support a sustainable restart - not only in principle but to provide practical championing of projects in and around Melksham such as:
* Toilet provision - especially for hand washing and drying
* One way system for pedestrians / cyclists over town bridge to allow for social distancing
* Twenty yards of new path across council land to connect Station Approach to Foundry Close
* Buses, cyclists, pedestrians only from corner if Lowborne to corner of Church Street
* Restarting Monday to Friday town bus service to connect with trains at station
* Starting Bath to Melksham / Devizes bus as specified to run from early April
* Reset pedestrian crossing lights to give higher priority to pedestrians and cyclist
* £1.50 flat single fare / monthly pass at £30 for Melksham Area (Love's Farm to Purlpit / Semington to Beanacre)
* Public footpath from Hunter's Meadow to Woolmore Farm to be made suitable for all season use and for cycles
* Footpath / cycle way from Farmer's Roundabout southwards on east side over Avon bypass bridge to Cemetery and Alder way
* Conway Crescent / Burnet Close / Pathfinder Way - Pedestrian and Cycle improvement for crossing and parallel to the A365
* Capacity improvements on railway line through Melksham to allow for hourly service
Details of any of the above projects – I can provide links on request
Now is the time to be bold and to drive these projects forward, and not the time to be put off by hurdles in so doing. Government funding and policy gives you a window of opportunity to provide a lasting positive legacy from the current terrible pandemic.
Click on the map to explore geographics
