At the entrances to Main Street and Irish Town there are a
number of signs clearly stating that no traffic whatsoever is allowed down
those particular thoroughfares after 10am, apart from the obvious exceptions of
emergency vehicles and special permit holders. Why then, does one find oneself
surrounded by all manner of vehicular traffic bumper to bumper long after the
10am cut-off period?
Years ago Gibraltar had the foresight to pedestrianise large
tranches of its town centre and pay for the tarmac to be dug up and replaced
with beautiful York Stone. We all remember the bad old days when cars (usually
low-slung Honda Civics with tinted windows) would cruise down Main Street at
all hours forcing everyone onto the narrow pavements on either side. This sorry
state of affairs was thankfully done away with and everyone rejoiced when
Casemates Square, Main Street & Irish Town became no-go areas for traffic
leaving a veritable Boulevard of open space for us all to enjoy. What was the
point of all that effort and expense when the traffic rules are blatantly
ignored on a daily basis?
They (whoever ‘they’ are) say that so long as the trucks
enter the street in question before 9.59am then no laws have been flouted.
However, if ALL the truck drivers do that then what you get is a slow queue
edging down the road, each one stalled behind the other as the delivery or
collection is taking place. This giant metal snake takes ages to move, it’s
like having the Cavalcade every morning but without the music and free sweets.
The other argument being bandied about is that the shops are not open until
10am so nobody is there to take the delivery from the trucks. Mmmmmm, so you’re
telling me that these shopkeepers cannot muster the civic pride and duty to
turn up and open their shop half an hour early on delivery day (which surely
isn’t every day of the week)?
Have you ever tried walking down Main Street with a pram or
a wheelchair at 10.15am? Have you ever tried doing the same when a cruise liner
with a capacity of 7000 has docked at our port spewing its cargo of tourists
down its gang planks and onto our streets adding to the general hub-bub of
bodies trying to get from A to B? If one reads the Highway Code it tells one
quite clearly that the pedestrian in king, the pedestrian has priority over all
other traffic. Not so in our Streets! Government needs to issue a serious
health warning, and alert pedestrians to avoid Irish Town at all costs lest
they want to be decapitated by the wing mirror of a delivery truck. More often
than not one has to move down this street, backs against the wall in the manner
of a crab and hope to God that the driver of the vehicle actually uses said
wing mirrors in order to see who is daring to walk alongside.
Main Street and its environs should be clear of all traffic
at dead on 10am every day, open and ready for business, free of smoke and fumes
and the general environmentally unfriendliness that traffic imposes onto the
simple walker. The laws are there and
need to be enforced.
Why do most shops open at 10am anyway? Why not align their opening hours to accommodate all these tourists who end up wandering around staring at closed doors!! Small businesses constantly complain about this mini recession that's hit our Main Street commerce yet they are unwilling to make sacrifices and open an hour earlier! Is this just mere tradition or some sort of law imposed by govt? Instead they prefer to take the easy way out and wait for the tax breaks which, unfairly, are not passed on to the consumer! So why not kill 2 birds with one stone by opening doors at 9 and have deliveries finished by 9.30 instead of 10. Very simple, pragmatic and rather painless, right? Unless you want an extra hour in bed!!
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