Cardiff, growing too fast?

[splott parker]

I've not taken the car to town for ages, take the bus every time. Always take the bus to home games, the bus service seems ok to me, once you're in bus lane areas it breezes through.

[PontBlue]

Our neighbours recently moved from Pontprennau to Caerphilly and have switched from road to train for their commute. They said travel times have been slashed even though they travel further. They just need the peak time overcrowding to be sorted.

The Metro/new rail franchise can't come soon enough. We need more, quicker, better trains/trams and the reopening of previously closed lines/tunnels etc.

[Zenith]

Welcome to Beddau Bob, it's not all that bad here . I drive to Fairwater on a Friday afternoon, usually taking 20 minutes through Creigau. Leaving Fairwater late afternoon around 4 it can take at least 15 minutes more to get back.

As above though, Talbot Green/Llantrisant/Pontyclun is shocking for traffic at most times, never mind rush hour.

[Kris]

The busses are fine. £3.40 to ride all day. People claim it is inconvenient, but I've used it quite a bit to get from the City centre to St Mellons. If you live and work in and around Cardiff, then I see no reason for not using public transport. From the sounds of it, car journeys are taking twice as long and the problem is we're all making short trips into the City.

I can't understand why BBC Wales needs to be in the centre of the city - that building is costing a fortune.

A train station at St Mellons is essential though, it would take thousands of cars off the road. Then we need a system like the Octopus Card system in London.

Even then, people will still see their cars as a more convenient option and will hope all the other commuters change THEIR habits.

There will be congestion charges soon enough too,

And, if you think the busses are crap in Cardiff, head up into the valleys where services run hourly!

[ian gibson]

Welcome to Beddau Bob, it's not all that bad here . I drive to Fairwater on a Friday afternoon, usually taking 20 minutes through Creigau. Leaving Fairwater late afternoon around 4 it can take at least 15 minutes more to get back.

As above though, Talbot Green/Llantrisant/Pontyclun is shocking for traffic at most times, never mind rush hour.

Things should improve a bit soon when they finish the roadworks near the roundabout, what with the extra lanes and traffic lights going there.

[Nick]

The busses are fine. £3.40 to ride all day. People claim it is inconvenient, but I've used it quite a bit to get from the City centre to St Mellons. If you live and work in and around Cardiff, then I see no reason for not using public transport. From the sounds of it, car journeys are taking twice as long and the problem is we're all making short trips into the City.

I can't understand why BBC Wales needs to be in the centre of the city - that building is costing a fortune.

A train station at St Mellons is essential though, it would take thousands of cars off the road. Then we need a system like the Octopus Card system in London.

Even then, people will still see their cars as a more convenient option and will hope all the other commuters change THEIR habits.

There will be congestion charges soon enough too,

And, if you think the busses are crap in Cardiff, head up into the valleys where services run hourly!

That's a new one on me.

[Nick]

Things should improve a bit soon when they finish the roadworks near the roundabout, what with the extra lanes and traffic lights going there.

There are longer term plans to build a flyover, over that roundabout.

[Cyclops]

Things should improve a bit soon when they finish the roadworks near the roundabout, what with the extra lanes and traffic lights going there.

[Zenith]

Thing is, the roadworks have been happening for over a year now and they don't look that close to finishing - apparently early September. And I always wonder whether traffic lights will hinder the current layout even more. Extra lanes is great but I'm thinking traffic lights won't do much difference.

[blue matt]

That's a new one on me.

the idea might have legs

[TH63]

There is only a problem twice a day 7am - 9am and 4pm - 6pm the rest of the time our roads are more than adequate.
May I suggest you have the Trusts mail redirected to Cowbridge rd sorting office which you can get to on foot. By doing that it
will be one less car on the road during rush hour.
.

Basically when most people are trying to get to work then.

Using the same logic, the Brynglas tunnels are perfectly adequate at 3am, it's just the times when people actually want to use the fecking things it's a problem.

Were you dropped on your head as a baby?

[Tandy]

Basically when most people are trying to get to work then.

Using the same logic, the Brynglas tunnels are perfectly adequate at 3am, it's just the times when people actually want to use the fecking things it's a problem.

Were you dropped on your head as a baby?

Well ride a bike to work you lard arse twat.

[Sgt. Pepper]

Well ride a bike to work you lard arse twat.

You seem very troubled.

[Ainsley Harriott]

I recorded that BBC Wales prog and was MOST unimpressed with the Council transport guy who promised all will be revealed in July. I wait for this with bated breath - but then I had beans on toast for lunch.

Having said this, this morning I traveled from Coryton into Cardiff at 08.30 this morning, using the bus and the journey was less than 20 mins - which I reckon is pretty good for this time of the day. It's pretty obvious that there are going to be horrendous probs unless something drastic is done - as someone said, how do you sort the traffic in Llandaff. But perhaps that's the plan - compulsory purchase of land to accommodate traffic, trams.

A few days ago, I gave some thought to how I would deal with the traffic going north on the A470 at peak times. The obvious answer is to cut out the traffic lights by sealing North Road off from surrounding streets and putting in pedestrian bridges. But there are always going to be bottle-necks - the junction with Colum Road (seal that off as well?) and all the east-west roads at Birchgrove, Maes-y-Coed and Pantmawr. Could these be bridged? Just whistling in the dark here......and even if there was a good traffic flow so far, you're always just moving the bottle necks up the road as cars queue to get off.

I suppose we just have to accept that getting around our city in future is going to be like getting around in the South-East of England where I would really hate to live now.

Depending on which part of the city centre you work, it can regularly work out quicker to go from the bottom of the A4232 up to J33 of the M4, across to Coryton, and continue up...rather than take North Rd.

[Kris]

That's a new one on me.

Sorry, got confused with the Hong Kong one. Oyster card.

[bobh]

spare a thought for us poor lot in east cardiff . been mentioned a million times before we ain't got any train service out here - thank your lucky stars in the north of the city !!

we're on the mainline cardiff to newport train route too . just put a station anywhere between rumney and st mellons and would take thousands of cars off the roads at peak times . not rocket science !

Oh, come on! I live in St Mellons, we're getting a rail station.
It's been promised.
They said so about 25 years ago.

Oh, hang on.


Perhaps they're waiting for the underground...or the monorail...

[Rjk]

Bristol's traffic is something else. That needs to be the warning for Cardiff.

Bath traffic is awful too for a relatively small town

[BLUETIT]

Bath traffic is awful too for a relatively small CITY

FYP

[life on mars]

I too saw the worrying program, not enthused by the leader of the council or the chap happy to build nice shiny buildings ,this is not a local council issue it needs intervention and specific funding from WAG .

I'm no expert but dont you build the transport infrastructures first , unless its just for the rich coming in from afar on a train and not having to walk or travel very far ,why they could not build the bus station by that now pulled down car park, at that side lane leading to the Prince of Wales is beyond me , perhaps they didn't want folks viewing City fans boozing and smoking outside and being asked to do the ayatollah ( aka baker street London moment )??

[the other bob wilson]

Can't believe they have put such little funds into transport to ease what will be a nightmare fir many commuters. There is an old railway line that runs past Radyr toward creigiau, why don't they sort it?? A line out that way would sort a few issues

There was talk a couple of years ago about the line to Creigiau being rebuilt with a new station in Fairwater called "Keyston" being included, but canvassers for Plaid Cymru during the council elections told me that the new station would never happen and doubted the timescale for the line reopening.

There's a map on this link

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-31418603

which includes the line to Creigau that in fact goes on to Talbot Green before joining the Swansea to Cardiff line at Pontyclun. There's also stations planned for Ely Mill, Culverhouse Cross and Rhoose and stations called Newport Road and St Mellons for east Cardiff, but it seems to me that a lot of existing stations (including Ninian Park) have disappeared!

[the other bob wilson]

Welcome to Beddau Bob, it's not all that bad here . I drive to Fairwater on a Friday afternoon, usually taking 20 minutes through Creigau. Leaving Fairwater late afternoon around 4 it can take at least 15 minutes more to get back.

As above though, Talbot Green/Llantrisant/Pontyclun is shocking for traffic at most times, never mind rush hour.

Quite like what I've seen of Beddau so far, but I've yet to spot a pub there - wasn't it the venue for a famous messageboard scrap a few years ago?

[the other bob wilson]

Have you considered buying a bike?

Far too many hills around Beddau and, anyway, after watching some of the incidents in that programme, I think I'll stick to the car, bus or train.

[ian gibson]

Quite like what I've seen of Beddau so far, but I've yet to spot a pub there - wasn't it the venue for a famous messageboard scrap a few years ago?

No pubs left in Beddau Bob, the Gelynog shut years ago after an incident with a shotgun, the Bowman is now a block of flats. You still have the welfare club and the rugby club though. A short walk to Llantwit and you have four decent boozers, the Crown, the Ship, the New Inn and the Bush.

[the other bob wilson]

No pubs left in Beddau Bob, the Gelynog shut years ago after an incident with a shotgun, the Bowman is now a block of flats. You still have the welfare club and the rugby club though. A short walk to Llantwit and you have four decent boozers, the Crown, the Ship, the New Inn and the Bush.

[Llanedeyrnblue]

That's a new one on me.

The world is your octopus