Whose Side Are You On?

Remember the Thali Corner 'Easi-turn' scheme, installed by a lone fanatic van driver fed up with residents parking their hippy cars on the corner ? He is very modest, and tried hard to keep a low profile - even allowing people to think Living Streets had something to do with it.

The power hungry will always fill a media vacuum, of course so no surprise Living Streets Bristol invited local residents to what they laughingly called
'an official re-opening of the footpath linking the Thali Cafe to Herbert's Bakery, popular in the last century. This path fell out of use in the 21st Century as the path became blocked by cars and then bins'.
They prattle on
'since the Easi-turn Scheme, not only is the corner free of cars, but we are delighted to see that those parking on Wellington Ave, along the side of the Thali Cafe, are aligning themselves with the planters and bins in the gutter, and not blocking the pavement.'
Yawn.

As you can see, more people attended this than a Living Streets meeting, but interestingly, the van driver actually attended the opening! We aren't going to tell you which one he is as it would blow his cover - but it has set us wondering whether he is, in fact, a double agent...he seems a bit too pally with certain well known local subversives like Dr Rogers.


The group even held a ceremony to officially bless the new bike racks outside the Thali Cafe,not realising they are actually there just to ease traffic flow. Or are we the ones being fooled? Is this a double bluff - an alliance of the forces of darkness, pretending to be pro-tax paying drivers pretending to be a pro-cycling and -walking alliance? I'm getting confused as to who is on which side.




Anyway, there are clear benefits for us drivers. This is the pavement right opposite the Easi-turn feature above: now there are no cars there opposite, there is no longer any need for us to park close to the houses on this side! Like sands shifting with the tide, within ten days, the 'accepted' line for vehicles has shifted back south into the roadspace. This means drivers and passengers can now open their doors fully on both sides without houses getting in the way.

Attempts last year by our friend Bob Bull to get the houses moved back a bit failed, but now we have clear door space both sides. Result! This will help win over dubious residents - there might be 2 fewer parking spaces but the quality of those remaining just got better.