Rotherham Interchange Closure

[_toommm_]

So as of tomorrow, Rotherham Interchange will be closed for a year, with services departing from a temporary bus station on Forge Island (where Tesco used to be) and from Corporation Street (which as of Friday only had two stops installed... yikes). Good luck to the folk of Rotherham as by the looks of the shelters there isn't much breathing space and it doesn't look very warm.

So, does anyone here live in Rotherham, or commute through/visit Rotherham regularly, and what are your thoughts or opinions on the temporary solutions being offered as of tomorrow?

 

[johnnychips]

What are they doing with it?

 

[Harpers Tate]

The old interchange suffered a fire a few years back and part of the car park above has been out of use ever since. The entire structure is being refreshed and/or re-inforced (but not substantially changed). For this to happen, it is closing to buses and parking (I think) for around a year.

Of course what should have happened is construction of a new, permanent DIRO* bus station on Forge Island, thus affording a permanent true interchange with trains and trams at the station which is adjacent, and retaining parking in what was the supermarket parking area.

As it is, in a year we will se a return to a bus station where
- at worst, a customer changing buses may walk almost 1/4km from stand to stand (DIDO* design, huge amounts of "wasted" space).
- every bus either arriving or departing has to interface with almost every customer entering or leaving at a flat crossing, causing delays for both
- anyone "interchanging" between bus and tram will need to walk up to about 520 metres and across two roads

and in the meantime, we will have an efficient design, but (obviously) basically constructed and with no toilets (for example) supplemented by some roadside stops.

==========
DIRO - Drive In, Reverse Out
DIDO - Drive In, Drive Out

 

[eastwestdivide]

Plans available from here: https://www.travelsouthyorkshire.com/news-Rotherham/
12 stands in the temporary bus station plus three stops in Corporation Street, versus 24 stands in the interchange (A1-10, B1-10, C1-4), although the Cs don't seem to be used much. Will be interesting to see if it's crowded.