Transport Plans

Air quality, the environment, and improving the quality of life for residents across generations are issues that The Civic Society approaches with direct effect. We are focused on improving the livability and sustainability of Hertford with efforts such as Hertford Bypass and A414 Traffic, and Mass Rapid Transport Systems. Safe Travel to Schools, Cycle Paths, See ideas here and ring along your own for campaigning projects.

Hertford Bypass and A414 Traffic

A bypass would introduce new concerns while exacerbating existing problems.

Bypasses might sound nice in theory – but how do they work out in practice? Other local examples, such as Buntingford and Bishop’s Stortford, illustrate the likelihood of large amounts of infill housing, once a bypass or ring road has been completed. If a bypass were to be built around Hertford, its population might increase by up to a third. This would tend to foster more local traffic, potentially reducing the benefit of any bypass.

There’s another conundrum in the case of Hertford. It’s a town which suffers from rush-hour congestion, undoubtedly. However, surveys carried out pre-pandemic for Hertfordshire County Council (HCC) have shown that over a third of rush-hour traffic on the A414 in Hertford is attributable to people driving to/from County Hall (or the East Herts Council HQ alongside it, at Wallfields). County Hall happens to have one of the largest car parks in the whole of the county. HCC encouraging its staff to work from home has tended to reduce rush-hour congestion.

The last time that HCC proposed a Hertford bypass, in the winter or 2018-9, Hertford Civic Society invited the then lead Councillor (Derrick Ashley) to present HCC’s case at a public meeting, which the Civic Society hosted as impartially as possible. Over 200 people came to this meeting in Hertford’s Catholic church (in January 2019). After the Councillor had outlined his case, there was some lively discussion. The vast majority of people of people who were present voiced their opposition.

This ‘community resistance’, as reinforced soon afterwards by Hertford Town Council and East Herts Council, caused the County Council to ‘pause’ its bypass proposal – and also to strengthen its interest in a possible Mass Rapid Transit system, by way of a possible public transport alternative to east-west car traffic on the A414.

We will have to wait and see what happens next, though Herford Civic Society is strongly in favour of the Mass Rapid Transit option, particularly if it is some kind of tram or light railway.

Mass Rapid Transport System

Hertfordshire needs much better east-west transport. The A414 is already over-loaded, while current public transport is both limited and slow.

The best possible game-changer would be an east-west tramway linking together such ever-expanding places as Hertford, Hatfield, and St Albans. Hertford Civic Society has been actively campaigning for a route of this kind. The Civic Society has a transport development professional among its members (Reg Harman). In 2018, the Civic Society facilitated his presentation to Hertfordshire County Council of what he calls Herts Orbital Transport (HOT).

Hertfordshire County Council originally advocated a different set of proposals (in their LTP4 transport strategy of 2016). This involved a Hertford bypass and, at best, an enhanced east-west bus route, termed an MRT (Mass Rapid Transit). However, in the face of ‘community resistance’ to this package, spearheaded by Hertford Civic Society, the County Council managed a rethink .

Plans for the bypass were put on hold, and options for east-west public transport were enhanced, possibly even involving a tramway. This new east-west transit option, still in principle featuring either buses or trams, is called HERT (Herts Essex Rapid Transit). There is no fully defined route, though the eastern terminus might be Harlow or Stansted Airport (both in Essex).

While a tramway line would involve higher up-front investment costs than buses, Hertford Civic Society actively supports a tramway. Tramways offer a unique combination of high capacity levels, high speed, high efficiency in the use of energy and staff, and easy access.

Given all the new housing across Hertfordshire, the County needs the best possible transport of an environmentally sustainable kind. If we are to change travel habits on any large scale, and tempt people out of their cars for many journeys, trams would be more popular and effective than buses. Recent heatwaves and droughts are a reminder that ‘transport as usual’ (just building more roads) is no longer an appropriate option.