It’s catching
It’s strange calling them "bus shelters" because they don’t shelter buses. They are really “people covers” or urban windbreaks - to avoid confusion with the seaside versions.
Waiting for a bus on a cold November morning can be a miserable experience (and yes, I have done it). A robust, well maintained bus shelter can stop Cranfield High Street feeling like the Russian steppes. Unfortunately, we don’t have too many of them. There’s one that was demolished in Mill Road, taking the bus stop with it and a second at the Swan which serves only one of two bus stops. The third is semi-redundant, barely used since Stagecoach started leaving the village via Crane Way instead of Bedford Road.
That is roughly one and half bus shelters for 18 bus stops (not counting the ‘ghost’ bus stop near the former Leathern Bottel). The bus stops at the top of Lodge Road are so exposed it’s a wonder squadrons of Cossacks aren’t spotted riding by. With snow on their boots of course.
It must cause rejoicing, therefore, or amusement, that the Parish Council is talking about bus shelters. It has, in fact, done a survey looking at the state of the shelters and stops, their siting and how easy it is to use each bus stop. It’s been prompted by numerous complaints about the stop opposite Lodge Road. There is no shelter and the stop simply stands in the grass verge, not a great place to be on wet day. There is also a concentration of older people in the alms houses and Villa Park and so there is a demand.
But there is demand elsewhere including Mill Road. We had to make a fuss last year to get a bus stop reinstated in Mill Road after it disappeared along with the old shelter. Stagecoach drivers regularly failed to stop.
The Parish Council wants to invest in some new shelters and has prioritised what it believes are the most important. First up will be two shelters at Lodge Road. The next priority is sets of shelters at either end of Mill Road. This a is a long term programme but vital to ensure that when you stand at a bus stop you only catch a bus, not a flaming cold.
Key facts: It is the County Council that is responsible for bus stops, the parish council that erects and maintains the bus shelters and Stagecoach/MK Metro that run the buses. Could anything be simpler?
It’s strange calling them "bus shelters" because they don’t shelter buses. They are really “people covers” or urban windbreaks - to avoid confusion with the seaside versions.
Waiting for a bus on a cold November morning can be a miserable experience (and yes, I have done it). A robust, well maintained bus shelter can stop Cranfield High Street feeling like the Russian steppes. Unfortunately, we don’t have too many of them. There’s one that was demolished in Mill Road, taking the bus stop with it and a second at the Swan which serves only one of two bus stops. The third is semi-redundant, barely used since Stagecoach started leaving the village via Crane Way instead of Bedford Road.
That is roughly one and half bus shelters for 18 bus stops (not counting the ‘ghost’ bus stop near the former Leathern Bottel). The bus stops at the top of Lodge Road are so exposed it’s a wonder squadrons of Cossacks aren’t spotted riding by. With snow on their boots of course.
It must cause rejoicing, therefore, or amusement, that the Parish Council is talking about bus shelters. It has, in fact, done a survey looking at the state of the shelters and stops, their siting and how easy it is to use each bus stop. It’s been prompted by numerous complaints about the stop opposite Lodge Road. There is no shelter and the stop simply stands in the grass verge, not a great place to be on wet day. There is also a concentration of older people in the alms houses and Villa Park and so there is a demand.
But there is demand elsewhere including Mill Road. We had to make a fuss last year to get a bus stop reinstated in Mill Road after it disappeared along with the old shelter. Stagecoach drivers regularly failed to stop.
The Parish Council wants to invest in some new shelters and has prioritised what it believes are the most important. First up will be two shelters at Lodge Road. The next priority is sets of shelters at either end of Mill Road. This a is a long term programme but vital to ensure that when you stand at a bus stop you only catch a bus, not a flaming cold.
Key facts: It is the County Council that is responsible for bus stops, the parish council that erects and maintains the bus shelters and Stagecoach/MK Metro that run the buses. Could anything be simpler?
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