There are three tram stops to be built to serve the Meadows. One on Meadows Way West, on the line from Toton Lane and the A52 and two, both on Queens Walk, one by the Park and Community Centre and one at the junction with Sweet Leys Road, on the line from Clifton and the A453.
Until now, the 3 names for these stations have been Meadows North; and then Meadows Centre (by the community centre and park) and Queens Walk. Many have remarked that the stop by the Queens Walk Recreation Park and the Queens Walk Community Centre should be called Queens Walk.
There is an opportunity for us to get the names of the tram stops serving the Meadows right.
The proposals for the new names are:
o Queens Walk (for Meadows Centre)
o Meadows Embankment (for Queens Walk)
o Meadows Way West (for Meadows North)
There are rules and guidelines for tram stop names. The one rule is that they are short enough for all the electronic display systems.
After that, there are a number of criteria which we are suggesting, to get these names right for the near and long term future. The criteria we suggest are:
o Strong association with the location of the stop.
o Minimising opportunity for confusion in the minds of the travelling public.
o Celebration of the Meadows.
o Some recognition that there might be another line to West Bridgford in the future.
So:
o Queens Walk (by the community centre and by the park, for Meadows Centre)
o Meadows Embankment (where New Meadows meets the Embankment, for Queens Walk; other suggestions – Toll Bridge or Wilford Toll Bridge, Victoria Embankment, Meadows Riverside or Riverside Way)
o Meadows Way West (and serving the west of the Meadows, for Meadows North; other suggestions – Meadows St.George’s, Meadows Kelso Gardens, Meadows Beardsley Gardens, Meadows Furlong or Furlongs)
Expanding on the latter two:
Meadows Embankment
The stop is at the junction of Queens Walk and Sweet Leys Road and near to the junction of Victoria Embankment, the Toll Bridge and Riverside Way.
The Toll Bridge is more fully known as Wilford Toll Bridge and that name would suggest it’s in Wilford and not in the Meadows.
Victoria Embankment is a very long road and people who are trying to reach Victoria Embankment properties near Trent Bridge might find such a name misleading. (We might also reflect that a Line 4 might go out that way, crossing the River Trent).
Riverside Way is nearby and the school serving the area is Riverside school. However, passengers might confuse the name with the very well known Riverside Retail Park, which is also by the river bank and which can look proximate on a map, even though it distinctly isn’t by foot.
So we suggest a new combination of Meadows and Embankment to say it’s the tram stop in the Meadows nearest to the river.
Meadows Way West
Meadows North is not a particularly useful name for describing its position in the Meadows.
Queens Drive is a very long road and there are also there are bus stops in the Meadows on Queens Drive.
Meadows Way is a very long road and carries a number of bus stops on its eastern leg. We want to avoid people thinking they’re going to a street off Meadows Way, thinking the tram serves it, and then finding the stop is long way from their intended destination.
Hence Meadows Way West.
The suggested names:
o Queens Walk (by the community centre and by the park)
o Meadows Embankment (where New Meadows meets the Embankment)
o Meadows Way West (and serving the west of the Meadows)
were shared with a number of community activists by e-mail a few weeks back, but we wanted to write again more fully explaining the proposals.
We would appreciate feedback, suggesting either approval or disapproval of the suggested names; and if you favour a different name, a short rationale for the suggestion in the style offered above.
Yours sincerely,
Nicola Heaton
nicola.heaton@nottinghamcity.gov.uk
Michael Edwards
michael.edwards@nottinghamcity.gov.uk
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