As someone who lived for 5 years in Batheaston (and thus understands the opposition to linking the A36/A46 there) and who has campaigned on TransWilts issues for years (and thus understands the opposition to the A350 assuming a "supertrunk" role), and who also now works on similar matters over here in France, I guess you could say I have many potential perspectives on this. I will probably address my take on actual solutions in a Transport Scholars post at some point after Ive first run my observations past grahame, Phil and others privately.
What I wanted to put across in this post though is how these results can be both a statistician's dream or a statistician's nightmare.
Do you, for example, take the apparent 60%-ish support for "the need for an improvement to the A350 at Beanacre and Melksham" as majority support for a road-based solution, or do you give appropriate weight to the fact that much of this is based on rail, bus, walking and cycling options. And do you consider support for rail, bus, walking and cycling options to be of note in its own right, or only as a supplementary approach to a road-based solution?
Ive recently done a lot of work in Saint Brieuc, and their approach is described as follows:
"Our territory is attractive, constantly evolving with new housing and new activities taking hold: The need for travel (whether on foot, by bicycle, by public transport or by car) is increasing. Air quality has been affected, with recent years, a deterioration which shows the need to change mobility practices.
Many objectives are to be achieved, including:
- Guaranteeing good accessibility for everyone and the safety of everyone when traveling;
- Preserve the environment and improve the living environment;
- Foster coherence between urbanization and travel offer.
The general objective of this project is not to demonize the car, but to ensure that the use of it is neither exclusive nor an obstacle to the practice of other modes of travel, such as is too often the case today. With its Urban Travel Plan, Saint-Brieuc Armor Agglomeration affirms the desire to move from a system where the automobile is dominant to a sustainable system which is part of a complementarity between the different modes of transport."
This is one of the closest fits I have ever seen with the ethos and philosophy we have evolved over the years from our involvement with Save The Train, through TransWilts Community Rail and continuing today with CoffeeShop and Melksham Rail Users/Transport Group.
If I could make one solid prediction from the bypass consultation report, it would be that Wiltshire Council's originally preferred route option 10c (long eastern bypass) seems to have both come through the process relatively unscathed with what looks like a genuine level of support, and the odds of that being the one they ultimately run with must now be significantly shorter.
Therefore the real prize is securing a positive vision for the Melksham and wider TransWilts corridor that is built within, around and beyond that, and that's the true opportunity that needs to be focused on.
