The council got their way,it will be a 18 ton weight limit,from next year,so it will be a long around with additional fuel costs.
To be fair a Doctor who is a MP,does not want HGVs in his patch,in Wiltshire,as that is where all the freight will have to divert through,Westbury was promised a bypass,they did not get it. Bath council have told us that they do not have to give a reason to shut a A class major european trunk road,and said it is a secret. There will be OAPs,with time on their hands,to work for free and log truck plates down to pass on to Trading Standards,then to DVLA to send a £1000 fine,like they are doing in Bradford upon Avon now.
Foreign trucks are exempt from all fines and action.
Fine, substitute 3 x 18tonners in to bath for every artic and see how they get on. 18T rigid is much smaller than an artic so it should ease congestion. Also 18T drivers get paid much less than artic drivers so there should be no increase in goods prices to have to compensate for paying 3 drivers instead of one. Better still, send in 26 transit vans for every artic. Problem solved. Glad it all worked out nicely. Cheersthanksbye. Merry xmas
toby1234abc:
The council got their way,it will be a 18 ton weight limit,from next year,so it will be a long around with additional fuel costs.
To be fair a Doctor who is a MP,does not want HGVs in his patch,in Wiltshire,as that is where all the freight will have to divert through,Westbury was promised a bypass,they did not get it. Bath council have told us that they do not have to give a reason to shut a A class major european trunk road,and said it is a secret. There will be OAPs,with time on their hands,to work for free and log truck plates down to pass on to Trading Standards,then to DVLA to send a £1000 fine,like they are doing in Bradford upon Avon now.
Foreign trucks are exempt from all fines and action.
I see no reason why this should happen? Surely an on the spot fine for them and if they can’t get it off them get it off their delivery point?
Its is a case of not in my back yard,NIMBYs,locals write to their paper to say they are intimidated by hgv`s,if so,why dont they stay at home with the curtains shut and take their medicine.
The Batheaston bypass was a waste of money,it cost millions,and achieved nothing,the tree huggers only have to spot a rare frog or newt,cue the £1000 an hour lawyers lining their pockets to stop a road.
Bath had planned a bus system that ran on rails,like a tram,locals kicked off,and when the tv crews went to film the proposed new line,idiots that have never used the waste ground where the fly tippers dump fridges and tyres,said we walk here with our dogs and dont want an alternative transport plan at the base of their gardens,but they have a gridlocked trunk road there.Are the general public thick as planks,they dont want wind turbines,that is another subject.
toby1234abc:
Bath council have told us that they do not have to give a reason to shut a A class major european trunk road,and said it is a secret.
I think they will discover that the Freedom of Information Act will be used to find out why they have imposed the restriction.
Im off to Gdansk to register my big bad noisy smelly hgv,and drive through their ban ten times a day,log that on their clip board,scowling at me in their hi-viz,goggles,hard hat,boots,anti nuclear explosion suits,and a AK47.
The Bath ban has run in one of the truck magazines,the council are sticking to their guns and refusing to give a reason to shut a main route for freight traffic,imagine the same thing happening in France??
Maybe it is the obsession in the UK with house prices,and trucks going past,for the London brigade that have second or third homes just for the weekends in Bath.
Do i understand from this ban that all any 18t + using the A4, A46 or A36 will have to take a massive (really massive) detour if dropping anywhere around the bath area. How are they going to police this?
According to their website it is to protect historic buildings on the A4. I suppose the ban is the easiest and cheapest way to solve the problem, from their point of view anyway.
Banquo:
Do i understand from this ban that all any 18t + using the A4, A46 or A36 will have to take a massive (really massive) detour if dropping anywhere around the bath area. How are they going to police this?
ANPR
The proposed route from say Southampton to Bristol,will be the A34 to the M4,head west bound,to the M32,or travel via Westbury,Wiltshire.
The ban will be on the bridge by the fire station in Bath.The other routes in Bath are now a weight limit,so no to to the A4,to Keynsham.If head to Marshfield,then turn left,to head to Bristol,then to the ring road,that is another and legal route.
toby1234abc:
.
Bath council have told us that they do not have to give a reason to shut a A class major european trunk road,and said it is a secret.
.
It isn’t. File a Freedom Of Information request. They have to give you the info.
The RHA have made their point about more fuel and time,thus adding costs to customers,but it has fallen on deaf ears.
toby1234abc:
The RHA have made their point about more fuel and time,thus adding costs to customers,but it has fallen on deaf ears.
Why should the Council be bothered, goods will still be delivered albeit via a circuitous route and at extra cost.
Andrew Murrison MP,contact details-Andrew.murrison.mp@parliament.uk
telephone-0207 219 8337.
House of Commons London
SW1A 0AA.
Constituency office=Suite 1,Holloway House,Epsom Square,White Horse Business Park,Trowbridge,Wilts,BA14 OXG.
Telephone 01225 358584
Fax 01225 358583.
toby1234abc:
The proposed route from say Southampton to Bristol,will be the A34 to the M4,head west bound,to the M32,or travel via Westbury,Wiltshire.
The ban will be on the bridge by the fire station in Bath.The other routes in Bath are now a weight limit,so no to to the A4,to Keynsham.If head to Marshfield,then turn left,to head to Bristol,then to the ring road,that is another and legal route.
For those of us from outside the area, what kind of distances are we talking about here? ^
I’m no mathamatician but, surely a 44 tonne artic running on 6 axles is going to put down less ground pressure per square inch than an 18 tonner with its two axles & narrower tyres. It’ll cause less polution than the three 18 tonners needed to replace it, although they’d move slightly more payload & there’d be less vehicles in the traffic jam which will always be on the A4 thru to the A36 no matter what weight limits they impose. Unless I’ve got it wrong.
BB
hammer:
For those of us from outside the area, what kind of distances are we talking about here? ^
Toby mentioned Marshfield…
When we used to run to Southhampton docks from there, it was only a very few miles (no more than 10…) more going via Chippenham and Melksham to Salisbury than it was going via Bath to Salisbury. Time-wise it was a little slower too.
As far as I can tell, its still ok to approach Bath from the A4, either from Chippenham or from Keynsham. As usual, these ill-thought out weight limits put even more pressure on surrounding traffic routes.
As always, Hammer, I guess it depends where you are coming from and wanting to go. It will make a miniscule amount of difference to a scottish lorry but potentially a lot to a local haulier.
As someone has already mentioned, the Batheaston bypass was a practical joke even before it was finished, let alone now! It would be ideal if they decided to build from the end across to the A36 to bypass Bath altogether but there’s more chance of a euro referendum, I think… 
Its slightly dishonest to blame weight, surely. Most, if not all, axle weights are lower now than they were years ago. Do they not mean ‘We don’t like these bigger lorries’ ? I wonder if National Express et al, with their 3 axle coaches, will get an exemption because they are carrying tourists??
Companies should stick together and refuse to deliver to lorry hating areas.
With all the traffic lights and dozy pedestrians surely going through the town IS the long way round? I’ll happily avoid the place.