South Road/Howard Road Road Alignment
		  =====================================
			      (C)J.G.Harston
		70 Camm Street, Walkley, Sheffield S6 3TR

			Version 1.10 - 20-Sep-2000

Introduction
In the four years since version 1.00 of this document the Highways
Authority has proposed various solutions and has trialled one.  The
distinctive feature of all these is that they have all been non-
engineering options - other than the moving of two bus stops.  They have
all been changes to parking restrictions and addition and removal of street
lining.  The problems on South Road will not be alleviated with
non-engineering solutions.  This is an update of version 1 of this
document, taking into account changes that have happened since then.


The Problem
South Road and Howard Road between Walkley Road and Fulton Road is quite
narrow in places and there is often serious traffic congestion. This is
especially prevalent when cars are parked on both sides of the road and
vehicles, particularly buses, try to pass them.  There is especially a
problem around St Mary's Church.  Here the carriageway is narrow and there
may be vehicles parked there for events at the church.  Also, it is very
difficult for drivers trying to leave Fir Street to see approaching traffic
from the south, their right.

Traffic problems were further compounded by the opening of Netto at the
bottom of Highton Street in the old cinema.  There are often times when
cars are double parked here.  Even worse is when articulated delivery
lorries try to approach Netto's delivery entrance on Orchard Road.  Many
have grounded on the road at each corner and the tarmac bears numerous
scars from their passage.


Changes since 1996
The most noticable change since 1996 is the pedestrian controlled crossing
lights at the South Road/Walkley Road junction outside Walkley Library
replacing the road traffic light previously there.  This has made it much
easier for pedestrians to cross each limb of this junction.  Another
improvement is that in realigning the pavement edges and building the
build-outs has pushed traffic turning the corners further into the
carriageway and away from the pavement.

In October 1999 a twelve-month trial parking restrictions alteration was
started.  This also involved moving two bus stops and placing a new one.
The city-ward stop outside 378/380 South Road was moved to outside 266/268
South Road.  The outbound stop outside 261 South Road was moved to outside
271 South Road.  A new city-ward stop was placed outside 178 Cromwell
Street.

The Yorkshire Bank at 163/165 Howard Road closed in 1998.  The cash machine
was retained as a stand-alone facility. The shops at 167 and 169 Howard
Road were converted to residential properties. The Baker's Shop that
previously occupied 167-175 Howard Road now occupies the former bank
building.  173-175 Howard Road is now occupied by a glazing business.


Specifics of Problems
Moving the two bus stops has meant that if buses are waiting on both sides
of the road, they now face away from each other.  At the pair of stops
between 370 and 399 South Road (Walkley Fish Bar) there is sufficient space
for vehicles to get past the buses.  At the pair of stops between  250 and
277 South Road (Walkley Post Office) the narrowness of the road and the
blind corner at Fir Street prevent vehicles passing, and cause blockage,
especially when there are parked vehicles.

The carriageway outside 348 to 358 South Road is level with the pavement. 
There is only one gulley drain, which is uphill of the area outside these
properties.  The rainwater fallpipes on the front of the buildings feed
into channels that pass underneath the pavement.  Unfortunately, these
channels are now below the level of the carriageway, and are completely
blocked.  Rainwater breaks out of the fallpipes and runs over the pavement,
running away from the gulley drain, and at times runs into the shops.

Vehicles often park between 316 South Road (Rose House) and 348 South Road
(Cundy's Furniture).  As the road is narrower here they are often parked on
the pavement itself, causing problems to pedestrians.  Cars often park on
the opposite side of the road, outside Netto, spilling out of the parking
bay and ignoring parking restrictions near the corner of Highton Street. 
This often - particularly on Saturdays - causes the roadway to be blocked
as the parked vehicles cause difficulties to vehicles even as small as the
21-seater route 31 bus.

Between 298 South Road/Greenhow Street (former Ebenezer Hall) and 319 South
Road/Carr Road the western side has no parking restrictions, and the
eastern side has minor restrictions.  The eastern side has shops that have
delivery vehicles arriving.

There is often a solitary car parked outside the former Ebenezer Hall at
the same time that deliveries are arriving at the shops on the opposite
side of the road.  This causes frequent blockage as the angle at which
north-bound vehicles have to pull out to pass the car is such that they are
then at such an angle that they cannot get past the delivery vehicles on
the other side.

The Fir Street/South Road junction is very badly aligned.  Vehicles
travelling north along South Road find themselves being fed onto the
southbound side of the road.  Traffic trying to leave Fir Street has to
pull out into South Road so far in order to see oncoming traffic, that they
are then in danger of colliding with that traffic.  When a bus is at the
bus stop, or delivery vehicles are waiting at the shops, the road here is
effectively blocked.

The length of South Road/Howard Road from Fir Street to Hadfield Street
(outside Loxley College and St Mary's Church) has a pavement that is
considerably narrower than on other stretches of the road.  The pavement on
the eastern side is also twice as wide as the pavement on onther stretches. 
The narrow section also compounds the problems at the Fir Street junction.

171-175 Howard Road is now occupied by a glazier's, and often has the
business's vehicle outside picking up and dropping off jobs.  Also, vehicle
often park to use the cash machine at the former bank. The pavement along
this stretch of road is also twice the width of other sections opposite a
stretch of narrow pavement. Parking here forces northbound traffic into the
line of southbound vehicles and if a vehicle parks outside 184 Howard Road
this can completely block the road to vehicles larger than a car, such as
buses and vans.

167-169 Howard Road are now residential properties, but this does not appear
to have reduced the parking and traffic problems along this stretch of road.


A Solution
A full solution would be to implement the following.

1:  Create a parking/loading and bay between Cromwell Street and
	Hadfield Street west side along the length outside 163-175 Howard
	Road.

2:  Reduce the pavement wide between Hadfield Street and Cundy Street east
	side (opposite St. Mary's) to widen the carriage way so parked
	vehicles will not obstruct traffic.  The trial parking restrictions
	currently run along the west side - outside St. Mary's.  The church
	makes one-off event-based agreements with the police to be able to
	have vehicles waiting outside for specific event - weddings and
	funerals, etc.  This appears to be working satisfactorily, so the
	parking restrictions should remain on the western side of the road.
	The pavement on the west side should also be widened to a standard
	1.8m to improve pedestrian safety.

3:  Reduce the pavement width between Cundy Street and Hoole Street east
	side (opposite Loxley College), keeping the pavement alignment
	outside number 260 (the Post Office) as it is and the area in front
	of numbers 258 to 252 as a loading and bus bay.  The road on the
	opposite side here should keep the parking restrictions place in
	the trial. Again, the pavement on the west side should also be
	widened to a standard 1.8m to improve pedestrian safety.

4:  The south corner of Fir Street should be pulled back to a building
	line in line from the revision point at the corner of St Mary's
	School building and a point two metres from the front corner of
	number 259 to allow traffic leaving Fir Street to see south along
	South Road.  This corner should be marked as no parking at any
	time.  This work would be easier now, as the tree on this corner
	has been removed.

5:  The width of the pavement from Hoole Street to Industry Street east
	side should be increased slightly so that the pavement outside
	262-268 (The Fireplace Shop) is not so narrow.

6:  Consideration should be given to whether the parking bay outside
	289-291 could be lengthed so as to create more parking space.  This
	is on the approach to a pedestrian crossing, so to ensure a full
	approach length, the crossing could be moved north about 10m
	towards the Greenhow Street junction. The movement of the northbound
	bus stop outside 265 South Road has reduced bus congestion at
	Hoole Street. The parking restrictions on the east side between 302
	and 312 South Road should be transfered to the west side.

7:  Between Carr Road and Freedom Road, the pavement should be realigned
	by pulling it back outside the Rose House and pushing it forewards
	outside numbers 348 to 358.  The projecting 'lump' in the wall next
	to number 348 should be removed.  This will entail encroaching on
	Rose House property and 'Walkley Green', the open land opposite
	Highton Street. 

	The former tennis courts behind the open space opposite Highton Street
	should be utilised as an extension to the car park above 179 Freedom
	Road. This will create approximately 25 parking spaces. A pedestrian
	access to the car park should be made from the open space known
	locally as Walkley Green. Rather then being used as a car park, the
	green should be kept and maintained as a public green.

8:  The west side from Highton Street to Freedom Road should be marked as
	no parking, except for the parking bay outside Netto.

9:  There should be some sort of entry feature at Walkley Library and at
Cromwell Stree such as a tactile road surface (not a speed bump).


Cut-Down Solution
The following cut-down solution would solve the majority of problems
without having to purchase land:

1:  The parking/bus bay between Cromwell Street and Hadfield Street

2:  Reducing the width of the pavement on the east side of Howard Road
	between Hadfield Street and Cundy Street and increasing the width of
	the pavement on the west side.

3:  Reducing the width of the pavement on the east side of South Road
	between Cundy Street and Hoole Street and increasing the width of
	the pavement on the west side.

4:  Realigning the Fir Street junction.

5:  Rebuild and widen the pavement on the east side of South Road outside
	348 to 358 South Road.

These should all be considered core items.


Version History
---------------
Version 1.10 20-Sep-2000
Version 1.00 20-Feb-1996
Version 0.10 12-Sep-1993

This document is available as http://mdfs.net/JGH/Docs/Planning/SouthRd/TrafImp110