Promenade - Megathread

[Out of the blue]

3 minutes ago, Nellie said:

That red strip, on Loch Promenade is nothing to do with the tramlines. It just signifies the future centre of the roadway. I know its a bit odd that they've used the same colour as they used for the tramlines at the opposite end, but that's how it is. On Loch Prom, the tramlines are/were, going to be on the seaward side, tight to the outside wall of the gardens. So, what we'll end up with, is a much narrower road, reduced parking, and a long, pointless strip of grass, from the Sefton, to the Sea Terminal.

I'm not a great fan of the trams, but this all about getting incompetent civil servants off the hook by creating a fog around the plans, specification and the finances, so they don't go over budget, and having to explain themselves.  

This has Black and Longworth's paw prints, all over it.

  

I personally would not have incorporated the horse trams into the project at all, but given the sums already spent on the tracks, stabling and project design, to not finish the tramway as planned would be a poor result. The plan now detailed appears to be as good as we are going to get. As Tim Baker correctly states, the promenade cannot be a building site for the next, now even more critical, summer season. Once this scheme is complete, maybe we can slow down on the grandiose schemes and just invest in our current road infrastructure. 

[Southfork]

1 hour ago, TheTeapot said:

More outstanding communication 

http://www.iomtoday.co.im/article.cfm?id=55625

These people are fucking clueless.

Just how many marketing and PR people does government employ to create such an incompetent information delivery system? 

[monasqueen]

The excuse for cutting it short is to avoid upsetting the hoteliers any more, but the road has already been dug up for a lot of the section. If they pull their fingers out and get on with it while the hotels are closed, they can get it all finished well before their target time. That will save any disruption to the hotels in future, and make a substantial saving in costs.

They really are coming over like a bunch of useless, brainless, idiots.

 

[Andy Onchan]

Now must surely be the right time to hand over the ownership, management and operations of all heritage transport systems to the third sector. There'll be no shortage of volunteers. Many such systems are operated successfully in UK and elsewhere in the world. 

[pongo]

The chou chou trains are nice. But the electric tourist railway should be turned into a world class cycle route.

And obviously the horse tram tracks should be ripped up.

[Roger Mexico]

6 hours ago, asitis said:

The friggin horse trams have cost millions in planning / stables/ and man hours correcting issues all to make a loss ! 

But the problem isn't the horse trams.  It's the corporate culture of the Manx civil service.  Rather than accept the reality of what their main job is, which is maintain existing structures in the most pleasing and efficient way possible, they have decided they have to boost their own importance and earnings by being in charge of a continual steam of schemes and developments.  If no need for such things exists, it simply has to be invented and doesn't even have to be plausible.  Of course such schemes also mean you can recruit loads more underlings into positions that mysteriously become permanent even once the scheme is completed and so need more schemes to keep them employed.  And you can develop all sorts of profitable relationships with suppliers and contractors.

The only reason Douglas BC, whose officials also have the same mindset, got rid of the horse trams was because the councillors wouldn't let them build new, unnecessary stables at great cost - a scheme which the DoI picked up with enthusiasm.  They only became 'too expensive' when they were prevented from spending more money on them, which just illustrates the nonsense they can get away with.

In the general run of things the horse trams didn't even make that big a loss and most of that in the past was due to the Corpy loading management costs onto it.  Good marketing could probably have reduced that further and been used as part of a package to attract visitors (especially families) to the Island. 

Even if a Prom redevelopment had been necessary (where are those mysterious voids?) the tracks could have been left in position.    But because such schemes have been allowed to become the playthings of the civil servants, who have to interfere to justify their existence and can impose any whim they feel like without justification, and because the political system is set up to allow this to happen, endless alterations happen without regard for expense.  If it wasn't the horse trams it would be something else.

[MadAsHell]

39 minutes ago, Nellie said:

That red strip, on Loch Promenade is nothing to do with the tramlines. It just signifies the future centre of the roadway. I know its a bit odd that they've used the same colour as they used for the tramlines at the opposite end, but that's how it is. On Loch Prom, the tramlines are/were, going to be on the seaward side, tight to the outside wall of the gardens. So, what we'll end up with, is a much narrower road, reduced parking, and a long, pointless strip of grass, from the Sefton, to the Sea Terminal.

I'm not a great fan of the trams, but this all about getting incompetent civil servants off the hook by creating a fog around the plans, specification and the finances, so they don't go over budget, and having to explain themselves.  

This has Black and Longworth's paw prints, all over it.

  

It'll be useful if your hobby is walking between traffic lanes. 

 

[gettafa]

Single track (passing place at the Sefton/Villa). All the way.

Just do it.

[Dave Hedgehog]

31 minutes ago, MadAsHell said:

It'll be useful if your hobby is walking between traffic lanes. 

 

Has anybody told them they have used the wrong coloured concrete. 

OK LADS DIG IT ALL UP AGAIN

[Neil Down]

3 hours ago, Numbnuts said:

Told you Neil that this was happening . Incredible really . Will when they finish this current adjusted work wonder will we get a unredacted honest costs of what it cost tax payers ..Interesting times ahead 

I believed you mate, I really did. you couldn't make this shit up if you wanted

[Donald Trumps]

1 hour ago, MadAsHell said:

It'll be useful if your hobby is walking between traffic lanes. 

 

Lovin' the stretched limo outside the Methodist Church

[TheTeapot]

I haven't tuned in to listen to Tynwald, mostly cos I haven't got any drugs, but I'm told the shit is flying over this.

[Cambon]

Isn't that a bus stop that the stretch limo is parked in? 

 

[Albert Tatlock]

[Andy Onchan]

3 minutes ago, Cambon said:

Isn't that a bus stop that the stretch limo is parked in? 

 

Yes, that's part of Longworth's new public transport fleet.