As part of bold ideas to reduce traffic, a historic cathedral city would be divided into five zones, with inhabitants and visitors subject to penalties for crossing borders from one zone to another.
Drivers in Canterbury, Kent, will be fined for transferring from one zone to another; as a result, they will have to leave one neighborhood and travel around the city on a new ring road.
The so-called Canterbury Circulation Plan, according to detractors, would prevent direct travels over the virtual lines, which will prohibit short automobile visits to supermarkets, cafés, and GP offices and increase traffic.
The plans are a part of a municipal strategy that would encourage inhabitants to walk, bike, or use public transportation and is based on a system utilized in the Belgian city of Ghent. Some believe that the measures might quadruple travel times.
The proposals also forbid visitors and tourists from using parking spaces within the old city walls; as a result, parking spaces will need to be relocated to comply with the redesigned system, which has not yet been authorized.
Conservative Ben Fitter-Harding, the council’s leader, has been working on the project for the last two years and is optimistic that the city’s road system will be successfully transformed.
According to the Canterbury Circulation Plan, the city will be divided into five zones, each of which will need a separate outer ring road to be used for access. Presented are the suggested zones.
“The aim is to make things simpler,” he remarked, not to wage war on motorists. Congestion cannot continue in the current form.
“I really believe that when people look back in 2045 they will see that this is what helped Canterbury realize its potential.” No one’s freedom of movement will be restricted in any way; instead, the rat runs’ automobiles will be halted.
The amenities in their neighborhood are accessible by automobile for inhabitants of the five zones, if necessary. The best method to go to a new neighborhood, though, is by walking, cycling, or using public transportation.
It’s expected to be a frictionless system, so there won’t be any barriers—just cameras. If someone just said “I’m going to drive across the city, I don’t care,” we would punish them.
Automatic Number Plate Reading (ANPR) cameras will be operational at entrance and exit points to each of the areas under the proposed plan. By doing this, cars won’t be able to slip between neighborhoods without receiving a punishment.
We won’t build physical barriers, but if you drive across neighborhoods, you’d be fined, Mr. Fitter-Harding said.
‘In an emergency, you wouldn’t be stopped from passing, but generally only those with licenses – taxis, delivery vans, persons with blue badges, and public transportation – would be permitted.
“The technology wasn’t available when other towns attempted this strategy, but today it is,” We can implement a system like this since we have a lot of expertise with ANPR. You could find all the facilities and services you needed in your neighborhood.
You wouldn’t have as many rats roaming about, and there would be more room for parking your automobiles, bus stops, and lanes. If we can do that, the atmosphere would be better, which would be terrific.
Due to a vastly improved public transportation system, the city center may now be a much nicer and more lively environment for people to live, work, and visit.
Our public transportation is now snarled in the same gridlock as everyone else. We can build something that will be much superior than what we now have.
Others, though, have criticized the plans and raised concerns about how people would go about living their daily lives.
Living on the edge of one of the planned zones is local resident Gill Smith, 54, and her dementia-afflicted parents, Doreen and Ken, both in their mid-80s.
The Daily Telegraph reported that she said, “My parents have caretakers who visit them four times every week.” How will they get here? It won’t be feasible. I just don’t comprehend.
Additionally, local Liberal Democrat councilman Nick Eden-Green warned that the ideas would seriously disturb people’ lives.
For many current residents, much alone new ones, getting to stores, supermarkets, movies, and cafes—let alone the hospital or the doctor—will entail challenging and significantly longer treks.
It will actually increase traffic rather than decrease it. That runs counter to any attempts at carbon neutrality. I don’t think about my friends’ zone of residence when I visit them. It’s really absurd.
You are isolating individuals in ghettos where they are unable to leave. Depending on which side of the street you reside on, you may not be able to get to the grocery store.
Additionally, Mr. Eden-Green informed the Telegraph that Ghent had 500,000 residents. The population of Canterbury is 67,000. Cycling is challenging for many in Canterbury because of its mountainous terrain. It’s flat in Gent. No comparability.
At a special meeting scheduled for next week, the council cabinet will decide whether to implement a three-month consultation period on the idea.