Tinker with the roads again..................

[mk1]

As  built in 1970 :




Then  self-important Councillors decide they needed  something to boast about in their election leaflets.
After 24 years it is ripped out and 'improved'.

1994



Now a further 23 years on (and 24 by completion) the latest bag of  delusional half-wits  decide they can improve it even more-by putting it back to how it originally was!

Print version

http://www.hartlepoolmail.co.uk/news/green-light-for-1-2m-hartlepool-town-centre-road-scheme-1-8809439


Link to the Facebook version

https://www.facebook.com/hartlepoolmailnews/posts/1697588073594369

[mk1]

In my mind the biggest danger for pedestrians is the slip-road into Clarence Road  from Stockton Street. Cars never slow down for it.  They leave the main road at high-speed and very rarely signal until the last second.



Because  only a few cars use it no one bothers with the lights and it is very easy to be caught by someone zooming  off the main road into Lancaster Road .
You only have to check the pedestrian barriers on this maze of crossings to see how many cars fail to stay on the road as they whiz about the lanes..

[Inspector Knacker]

Looks like 'connectivity' is the new buzz word.
As regards visitors not seeing the shopping centre, that's because the planners punched a dual carriageway through the town cutting it in two aided also by the fact you pass the ugly backside of our ugly shopping centre that looks like nuclear waste reprocessing plant. Easily missed.

[Stig of the Seaton Dump]

Don't tell me I have been driving past Harvey Nichols, Liberty, Fortnum and Mason and Fenwicks all these years without realising !

[mk1]

Don't tell me I have been driving past Harvey Nichols, Liberty, Fortnum and Mason and Fenwicks all these years without realising !

Those types of shops were said to be the ones who would fill up Jackson's Landing. I know it is crazy but that is exactly what these clowns hope will happen by simply removing a metal fence and a small wall.

This is a quote:

By December we'll have Jackson's Landing, a mall of between 25 and 30 big name designer shops - Armani, Versace, the lot, and eight class restaurants. They'll come from miles away to shop here.'


from this  delusional farrago :

http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/whatevers-happened-to-hartlepool-a-new-historic-seaport-a-mall-with-versace-and-armani-a-marina-and-1384314.html

[seaton]

The Shopping Centre was built back to front, all you see is a multi storey car park, rear end of the shops and a bar which is now closed.
You could put all the designer shops in the world in it but none would be able to view from the dual carriageway.
On the other side the economy of Hartlepool can't support designer shops, it will be interesting to know how long the new owners of H&M stay.
It's a vast store but I very rarely see many customers in it.

[Inspector Knacker]

They say that there's going to be a right hand turn with traffic light so cars can turn into the multi storey car park from the southbound lane. Unfortunately, the multi story entrance is curved and facing south so any vehicle would need to basically do a U turn to gain access, not forgetting it would be about 70 metres from the Park Road traffic lights.
This cosmetic exercise really isn't worth the expense. Where's the money cming from to pay for it, we're told they're on the breadline yet they suddenly decide that after 47 years the shopping centre doesn't stand out , so how replacing one fence with another fence and putting in a new crossing will alter this escapes me.

[jeffh]

Maybe they'll have the bright idea of opening a subway - and I'm not talking sandwich shops.  Of course it won't be near the Clansman but outside the college

[seaton]

They say that there's going to be a right hand turn with traffic light so cars can turn into the multi storey car park from the southbound lane. Unfortunately, the multi story entrance is curved and facing south so any vehicle would need to basically do a U turn to gain access, not forgetting it would be about 70 metres from the Park Road traffic lights.
This cosmetic exercise really isn't worth the expense. Where's the money cming from to pay for it, we're told they're on the breadline yet they suddenly decide that after 47 years the shopping centre doesn't stand out , so how replacing one fence with another fence and putting in a new crossing will alter this escapes me.

A very good point about the turn into the car park, its a concrete ramp so any modification would be very difficult if not impossible and costly. Basically it's a total waste of money as the Car Park is always empty, this will also cause a build up of traffic coming from the Park Road lights when the lights change to green to allow access to the Car Park.
I was in the Centre today, very quiet.

[fred c]

They could do with making improvements along the full length of Catcote Road and the Elwick Rd / Park Rd / Wooler Rd junction...... it's a real bottleneck and a miracle there hasn't been a serious accident.........will it get sorted..... no chance, the cosmetic propaganda b****x of Stockton Rd and the horses a**e traffic lights and junctions at the Transport Interchange are firmly embedded in the Visions of the f***wits.

[mk1]

they suddenly decide that after 47 years the shopping centre doesn't stand out , so how replacing one fence with another fence and putting in a new crossing will alter this escapes me.

I have been told the  reason why the line of mature trees along the side of The War Memorial leading to Middleton Grange were removed a few years back was to make the signage for the Shopping Centre more visible from Victoria Road. They thought it would increase footfall. How did that work out?

[Inspector Knacker]

The centre is basically a 1960's shopping parade concept. A masterclass in the crude monolithic concrete block  school of getting it wrong. It turns its back on the town and is more fortress than welcoming venue and no matter how much you tart up the interior, the outside has all the appeal of a U boat pen.

[mk1]

This is the photo used in the Mail article:



The 'masterplan' is to replace this crossing with.....a different style of crossing. You can see from the ringed areas how often cars turning from Victoria road take it too fast and hit the barriers. There has been 1 fatality on that crossing several years back.
The town centre is utterly disconnected from Church Street and always will be whilst the main road runs into the Marina area.

What happened to the footbridge that featured in Masterplan XXVIII?
Why/when was an 'improved' pedestrian crossing substituted?




Or this from Masterplan IX. Note the relocated statue and the 2 pedestrian about to commit suicide by walking into the traffic.



This Masterplan clearly had the intention to run Church Street over the railway lines to the sea :


As usual we were sold a dream whilst the final version was the cheaper no-frills least-expensive half-finished abortion.



See this photo to understand it was the intention to extend Church Street. :


You don't need any qualifications in Planning to see what a pigs ear the 'experts' have made of the town.
Some are even claiming the 'Transport Interchange' will spring back into life!

Who can forget the biggest lie of all. The famous Ferris Wheel deception:

[mk1]

The centre is basically a 1960's shopping parade concept. A masterclass in the crude monolithic concrete block  school of getting it wrong. It turns its back on the town and is more fortress than welcoming venue and no matter how much you tart up the interior, the outside has all the appeal of a U boat pen.

The original concept did bridge Stockton Street. It was a known problem but again the dream was never fully implimented.



I may not have a degree in Town Planning but I have the Max Lock book
The Hartlepools A Survey and Plan by Max Lock published by West Hartlepool Corporation

and thus know what the original plans were for West Hartlepool.  Seems I have an advantage over the critics of the critics.

http://www.hhtandn.org/notes/541/max-lock-plan-1948

[Inspector Knacker]

This is the photo used in the Mail article:



The 'masterplan' is to replace this crossing with.....a different style of crossing. You can see from the ringed areas how often cars turning from Victoria road take it too fast and hit the barriers. There has been 1 fatality on that crossing several years back.
The town centre is utterly disconnected from Church Street and always will be whilst the main road runs into the Marina area.

What happened to the footbridge that featured in Masterplan XXVIII?
Why/when was an 'improved' pedestrian crossing substituted?




Or this from Masterplan IX. Note the relocated statue and the 2 pedestrian about to commit suicide by walking into the traffic.



This Masterplan clearly had the intention to run Church Street over the railway lines to the sea :


As usual we were sold a dream whilst the final version was the cheaper no-frills least-expensive half-finished abortion.



See this photo to understand it was the intention to extend Church Street. :


You don't need any qualifications in Planning to see what a pigs ear the 'experts' have made of the town.
Some are even claiming the 'Transport Interchange' will spring back into life!

Who can forget the biggest lie of all. The famous Ferris Wheel deception:

If we spent all the money on plans, visions and delusions over the past 20 odd years on actually building something it might have made some sense. Instead they do a cut and paste from some town planning site of whatever looks promising and bang it out to suddenly remember it's champagne visions and lemonade money. Promises, promises sums it up , substance is harder to come by.