Tesco now doing road design!!!

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Thu 5 Apr 2012 11:31
Tesco now doing road design!!! - Red&Bold

I know there is already a topic about tesco trying to sell cars but now it seems they are delving into the realms of designing roundabouts. Fareham, my local town, now have had tesco "revamp" a roundabout that serves gosport, fareham area, in exchange for them being allowed to open a new superstore (something tells me that this wasn't the only favour being done!!). Gosport is already notorious for being a bad place to get in and out of with there being only 2 roads connecting it to the outside world. but now tesco has ruined this roundabout.

http://www.portsmouth.co.uk/news/transport/revamped_quay_street_roundabout_makes_the_traffic_flow_even_worse_1_3325478

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Thu 5 Apr 2012 11:40
Tesco now doing road design!!! - Auristocrat

This sort of thing isn't new, and if done properly, can improve local roads.

Approx five years ago an existing Asda nearby, wanted to make improvements to their car park, including access for customers. The local authority negotiated an improvement scheme where Asda got the car park modifications they wanted, and paid for the local authority to revamp the local roads and nearby traffic island, and install traffic lights to improve traffic throughflow and access to the supermarket. The road improvements were carried out by the local authority. Traffic management in the area is far better.

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Thu 5 Apr 2012 12:51
Tesco now doing road design!!! - diddy1234

every little helps ...... tesco's

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Thu 5 Apr 2012 12:54
Tesco now doing road design!!! - RT

It's quite common in the Midlands that planning permission to develop "brown field" sites is dependent on the developer funding local road improvements - but it's the highway authority that designs, plans and constructs the improvements, albeit through contractors.

J10 on the M42 had a major rebuild at the expense of the developer of a disused coalmine into a big distribution estate.

Mind you, it's also common for the highway authority to screw a junction up several times before getting it right. Staffs County Council are infamous for that in Tamworth - it took 6 attemps to get one roundabout right!

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Thu 5 Apr 2012 13:39
Tesco now doing road design!!! - ChannelZ

Tesco are hardly doing it, are they? They're just paying for whatever civil engineer and contractor to do it.

It's not like they've got the shelf stackers out with shovels...

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Thu 5 Apr 2012 14:18
Tesco now doing road design!!! - Chris M

Fareham town centre is just like hundreds of others up and down the country i.e. it has the same identical shops. It has no USP. The big attraction of having a nice new shiny Tescos in the town centre is it will give a reason for shoppers to visit. In the current climate Red&Bold, you either put up with a new roundabout which will hopefully get sorted, or you put up with a dying town centre.

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Thu 5 Apr 2012 14:22
Tesco now doing road design!!! - RT

or you put up with a dying town centre.

It's largely the out-of-town supermarkets that are causing town centres to die - as the biggest chain, Tesco have to shoulder the biggest blame for that.

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Thu 5 Apr 2012 14:39
Tesco now doing road design!!! - Ethan Edwards

It's largely the out-of-town supermarkets that are causing town centres to die - as the biggest chain, Tesco have to shoulder the biggest blame for that.

Really ..all on their own.. how can they do that then? The answers simple isn't it. If you want your small shops to prosper try using them instead of the big chains. If enough of you (anti Tesco crowd) do that there won't be any issue whatsoever.

Don't lambast the big supermarkets as they are simply giving people what they want. It's called free enterprise and is a good thing.

Councils in these towns and Councillors (yes the ones YOU elected) should admit their culpibility in causing town centres to die. Traffic calming measures, one ways, traffic lights, outrageous parking charges, wardens, parking camera cars ...any of this sound familiar? It should. Nearly every councils policy has been to demonise and drive out the motorist (and his wallet) from towns and now you complain because he's taken his cash to somewhere that actually welcomes him with free parking and easy access?

Well boo hoo...cry me a river. You voted for it. You got what you wanted , now live with it.

Incidentally Sainsury's in Ipswich were extorted by the Council to pay for all the 'Road improvements' at the junction of London Rd/ Ranelagh Rd. all they did was plonk in lots of lights and make the trip into Ipswich a nightmare of delays. It used to be easy to pop into Ipswich but add 'traffic management' and it becomes simply awful. I blame the Council. This was IIRC about ten years ago. So this kind of 'blackmail for planning permission' is very old hat.

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Thu 5 Apr 2012 14:47
Tesco now doing road design!!! - unthrottled

So this kind of 'blackmail for planning permission' is very old hat.

It is blackmail! Why should shops pay for their access to their stores? Isn't that what taxes are for-to provide infrastructure?

If you want your small shops to prosper try using them instead of the big chains.

Quite. Using local shops is rather like using the bus or caring for the elderly. Everyone thinks it is a disgrace that other people don't do it, but think that, personally, it is not for them.

The worst idea for 'saving' local town centres is to force out of town shopping precincts to charge for parking in order to make them less attractive to shoppers.

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Thu 5 Apr 2012 15:05
Tesco now doing road design!!! - Chris M

I've got no reason to defend Tescos RT, but I don't think they should shoulder the biggest blame. A look at the occupants of the out of town sites will usually reveal the following: a Comet &/or Currys, a B&Q &/or Homebase, a Next &/or TK Maxx, a Pets at Home, an Argos and usually at least one of McDonalds/Burger King/KFC/Pizza Hut. And all just a few yards from the car, which of course, has been parked for free.

It might not be what all Backroomers want, but the majority of the population vote with their feet every day of the year, although only between 10am and 4pm on Sundays - at present!

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Thu 5 Apr 2012 15:24
Tesco now doing road design!!! - unthrottled

t might not be what all Backroomers want, but the majority of the population vote with their feet every day of the year, although only between 10am and 4pm on Sundays - at present!

Of course if the shops opened for 12 hours on a Sunday instead of 6, then it would boost the economy because we'd spend twice as much. Bet all the people who think longer Sunday hours are a good thing have a 9-5 Monday-Friday job...

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Thu 5 Apr 2012 18:08
Tesco now doing road design!!! - Ethan Edwards

Your not wrong Unthrottled.

Even in the days of yesteryear when as a young 'old curmudgeon to be' I worked in t' local co-op supermarket , I really didn't mind the long hours overmuch. But double them? Wouldn't have been too keen, much better for the employers to just employ more part timers to fill the ranks. Which would be likely to have a beneficial effect on unemployment.

Seriously you might just have had a great idea there.

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Thu 5 Apr 2012 18:45
Tesco now doing road design!!! - VR6

I wouldn't say its blackmail - why should the public pay for infrastructrue which is needed only to make a developer profit?

If the store can prove using current highway standards that the existing infrastructure is sufficent to meet future demands, then they can build with no improvements. If however the store is predicted to increase traffic then the infrastructure improvements should be paid by the developer.

The councils get involved as the Highway Authority. They need to ensure that the design and construction of the new access meets current standards. They do this by either designing it themselves, or acting as a technical approval authority for the developers designers.

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