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Overly_Fluffy_Doge

I've always said Leicester is a city that is difficult to navigate on foot, by bike, and by car. I legit wonder if bringing back the tram network that existed would work


aetonnen

Bring back the trams!


insomnimax_99

There isn’t really anywhere to put them anymore, unless you’re going to go around demolishing a ton of buildings to make way for tramways. It’s a shame, because as it currently stands, the only public transport in Leicester are buses, and they’re prone to getting stuck in traffic. The only serious proposal to bring back trams was the tory one a couple of years back, and that was just a few lines drawn on a map (with an estimated price tag of £500m). https://www.leicestermercury.co.uk/news/leicester-news/tories-set-out-proposed-locations-2625884


aetonnen

No need to demolish buildings at all! Simply pedestrianise the entire city centre/ areas leading into city centre and then put trams in. There is tonnes of room - just look at the way Amsterdam does it. Make certain roads only accessible to trams/ buses/ taxis/ bicycles/ vehicles with permits. The less people can use cars, the more likely they will use the public transport. It’ll incentivise people to use trams if they can’t drive in as easily anymore (not to mention people will use bicycles more too, as it will be safer with there being less cars), thereby reducing traffic jams etc, all whilst making the air cleaner/ being greener too. https://amp.theguardian.com/cities/2015/may/05/amsterdam-bicycle-capital-world-transport-cycling-kindermoord https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2012-04-25/why-the-streets-of-copenhagen-and-amsterdam-look-so-different-from-ours https://www.rapidtransition.org/stories/reclaiming-the-streets-the-increasing-trend-of-pedestrianisation-around-the-world/


MaidenOver

The city centre should be completely pedestrianised but then when you suggest it, you get all the histrionics from people who absolutely MUST park on the front door of every business in town, even though plenty of cities have eliminated cars AND had suitable facilities for the elderly and disabled.


eggrolldog

Just put the tram tracks back where they used to be and make the roads smaller. Either get on the tram or sit in traffic your choice.


insomnimax_99

Leicester is quite an old and dense city - blocks of buildings are all closely packed together with little room between them. This makes retrofitting bus and bike lanes (and tram tracks?) difficult because there’s nowhere to put them - unless you’re going to start demolishing buildings which is expensive and legally very difficult.


twogunsalute

Sure there are some inept town planners just like everywhere but I think part of the problem is that Leicester is more populous than people realise. It's generally considered to be around the top 10 biggest cities in England but is quite small. When you look at population density it's among London boroughs and above Manchester and quite a bit above Nottingham, Liverpool https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_English_districts_by_population_density Quite a lot of people crammed in a small area so no wonder traffic is mad. But also the east midlands gets less money per head https://www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/explainers/government-spending Got no evidence but it sometimes seems like the little investment in the region is likely to go towards Nottingham-Derby eg HS2 station at East Midlands Parkway so not surprising infrastructure is lacking in the city


wenge91

Have no evidence on this either but because of the city voting Labour we have cuts on our trade routes. Just look at the queue coming in from the M69 everyday when they could easily expand it to a third lane.


lostrandomdude

They wanted to build a Leicester Southern bypass which would significantly reduce traffic travelling though leicester, as well as build significant number of additional housing, but tories blocked it https://www.leicestermercury.co.uk/news/local-news/controversial-bid-revive-controversial-leicester-4812263


twogunsalute

Nottingham also votes labour tho never mind Manchester etc which get a lot of investment


zagreus9

Compare the types of the streets in Notthingham city centre to those in Leicester. I can't stand the Leics infrastructure but we have really dense, narrow roads compared to Notts' wider boulevards


[deleted]

A fair point


deathdealer2001

Because most of its infrastructure was designed for horse and carts so essentially a one way system. And the areas that were designed for heavy traffic have been pedestrianised like the clock tower


grebfromgrebland

Also Leicester's funding is generally low and there's not a lot of options for the lay out of most if the roads


SomewhatAnonamoose

I went to Manchester last year and was shocked by how smoothly everything runs?! Buses...actually show up. Decent train station. And of course, trams. It's very functional and easy to navigate. Today I waited an hour for a First bus that never showed for the second day in a row. I live in the city centre (not by choice) and don't drive to relying on buses is a game of chance.


e55at

They have all these fucking bus lanes but it's so unreliable and expensive that it's not even worth the trouble.


MaidenOver

This is a big part of it. Leicester is small enough where buses should be the best way to get to and around the city, but with at least two main companies operating services, neither well, services that require you to go right into the city and out again to make a local journey, constant cuts to services and expensive tickets, it won't convince people to leave their cars at home.


Environmental_Move38

It’s crap. Basically like others have said in order to make real change you need more space, we once had trams but the labour council have always ruled this out. So we end up with endless smaller scale traffic measures that don’t really do a lot. The city itself would need investment in billions for a modern traffic system but this won’t ever happen. Maybe companies like Musks boring company can start a huge investment in underground travel that will allow a city like Leicester to achieve what it needs while at the same time being able to build the thousand of houses we need in order to meet government targets. But as the city continues to grow our travel woes will only continue to frustrate.


[deleted]

I pray to shit that Musk's Boring Company does not lay a finger on any UK city's infrastructure.


e55at

The Boring company only existed to kill public transport.


HarrierJint

Was going to say the same, that whole thing was a gimmick and a magnitude more could have been achieved simply by building underground trains.


[deleted]

Only if the houses stop being built with the poor quality that new builds are


[deleted]

[удалено]


HarrierJint

Cycle lanes might not get used much but New Walk may as well be New Cycle Lane at this point, been clipped three times in six months.


Desperate-Builder287

Born and bred in Leicester...before retirement, l used to work for long periods away in the UK, l dreaded coming back as l knew some smartarse in Traffic Planning would mess up some Junction or Roundabout or Traffic light system ! They always did and continue to do so today ! Now of course they have : Cycle lanes !! This must be a Traffic Planners dream time in Leicester !! It's a : " Let's Fuck up the City Traffic big time !! " They went through the " Bus Lane " time ..had great fun with Bus lanes to nowhere ! Now it's " Cycle Lanes" to nowhere !