GaryReggae

Time for another update! The year is now 1990 and lots of things have changed around Itchenham although nothing on the scale of the major changes of the 1960s. Here are some of the major changes: A two-lane bypass was constructed around the city in the 1970s. However, due to the fact that is carries all the cross-region traffic, it has been overloaded with traffic. A major scheme is currently underway to replace the bypass with a new motorway. However, the old road or at least a diversion has to remain open all the time so this is by no means an easy task. The photo below shows part of the work in progress. There will eventually be a junction where the roundabout is. This shot also shows one of the sprawling low density housing estates constructed in the 1980s. The main High Street and some of the roads surrounding it have recently been pedestrianised. Initially local shopkeepers were concerned this waould cause them to lose trade, however this does not seem to have happened. The 1960s multistorey car park and bus station is considered a major eyesore and the council have threatened it with demolition as it stands in the way of plans to pedestrianise the middle section of the High Street. The waterfront at the bottom of the High Street has recently been transformed from a derelict wasteland to an atractive park with a riverside esplanade. Shoppers can now stop here and admire the delightful view of the smoke-belching factories on the other side of the river and enjoy the smell of the filthy water. One of several new high-tech industrial estates on the edge of the city, this one being located near the Airport which was recently upgraded to 'International' status. This estate benefits from a small pond to try and attract businesses to move in. In 1979, a new Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher was elected to government. As well as single handedly destroying the Itchen County's coal mining industry (to the East of Itchenham), she privatised railway maintenance. Itchenham's railway works was closed three years ago and now stands abandoned and derelict. Thousands of city residents were made unemployed by the closure of the Works. The council have drawn up plans for an ambitious new mixed use development on the prime city centre site however historians are campaigning for the historic round train shed to be saved from the bulldozers. This looks unlikely although there is the possibility that it could be turned into a museum dedicated to the city's industrial heritage. Environmentalists are also concerned as the land is almost certainly contaminated with toxic chemicals from the years of industrial use. An aerial photo of the city. A transport map, showing the progress of the bypass upgrade.

Thanks for the replies folks! Date: 5/25/2005 12:34:55 PM Author: EnigmaticUK Love the characteristic style of 'Castleman House' as well - I recognise that you were the city planner responsible for BATting most of the brutalist monstrosities in your city but I don't recognise this building - is it on the STEX?quote> No, not yet. That is one of my older buildings and I have improved my BAT skills a lot since then. However, I am planning to revamp it (and most of my other older BATs) and release them.

Thanks for the comments everyone! Before I launch into this next update I'd just like to say thanks to all the BATTers who have produced some great buildings which I'm using in this city. Gascooker, RP2005, Il Tonkso and Frogface come immediately to mind but there are many others as well! OK, with no further ado, here's the lastest update: The year is now 1965 and the new A300 Ring Road has been open for just over five years. Constructing it was a very controversial issue, hundreds of homes and businesses were pulled down to make way for the new road and it went way over the allocated budget due to what opposers to the scheme called 'moving the goalposts'. The original plan was to construct a simple dual carriageway around the CBD, Shirley and Swaythling, however the plan was changed at the last minute to make it more future proof and most of the A300 is instead 3 lane elevated motorway - Much more capacity than we will EVER need! complained Ms Mona Lott, leader of the Itcheners Against The Ring Road (IARR) campaign. Due to the overspending, a proposed bridge by the docks was not constructed, leaving a vital missing link in the road - however city chiefs insisted that all the traffic was to and from the CBD, not between Shirley and Swaythling. They also pointed out that the airport was now served by the new M31 motorway that linked in to the South of the ring road. IARR point out that the road literally divided communities and wasted taxpayer's money - and this is partially true. The road cut right through the middle of the city and a number of properties built by the council literally five years before the road construction were destroyed to make way. However, traffic problems have majorly decreased since the new road has opened, although those coming off the ring road into the Central Business District (CBD) can encounter delays at busy times. Let's hit the road and go for a spin from one end to another, exploring the highlights on the way and noticing all the changes. Junction 8: The Docks. This key link relieved terrible traffic congestion to the docks. The large building on the right is a brand new tyre factory designed to bring jobs to the nearby deprived area of Swaythling. Junction 7: West Swaythling. The road to the left leads to a new housing estate and the the road on the right leads to Swaythling. Junction 6: Maybush. The M31 Southern Motorway leads off to the South here. Drivers wanting the airport, research centre or convention centre should also take this junction. This is situated in the middle of a brand new housing estate. Unfortunately a fatal structural flaw was found with the new system built tower blocks so they were abandoned just three months after becoming occupied. They are now home to the local yobs and a few despondent pigeons. Junction 5: South Swaythling. This is a perfect example of a place where the ring road has literally cut a swathe through a tradional community, totally dividing it in two. The road to the South goes is an alternative route to the airport for non-motorway traffic. South Bridge: This bridge crosses the River Itchen. Constructing it was a major engineering challenge and at one stage, engineers deemed the project impossible, stating that it was an unsuitable grade for construction. Junction 4: Highfield. This junction is an interesting design due to the railway line in close proximity to the ring road, therefore a conventional junction would not fit. This junction leads to Itchenham University Junction 3: City Centre. By far the busiest junction and indeed a bottleneck during the rush hour. This connects to the Southern Inner City Gyratory, a simple dual carriageway circulating traffic around the heart of the city. We'll now take a brief detour from the ring road and have a quick look at some of the changes in the CBD. 1. First of all, we've got to park somewhere. Fortunately, there are no less than three purpose built new car parks in the city, these all incorporate a bus station for easy interchange. This one is located on the new High Street. However, the architecture is certainly not to everyone's taste! Talking of architecture, this building, Castleman House was fiercely criticised by local residents when it was put up for being 'ugly'. Mr I. P. Knightly of the South Central Itcheners Resident's Association commented It's an eyesore and it blots out the light!. Castleman House was designed by the Itchenham County Architects Department who also designed the tyre factory, city car parks, the central police headquarters, central museum and the dysfunctional tower blocks and the building is used for the council offices. New retail and market buildings to the North of the CBD. The remodelled Itchenham Cross Square. The original paving was recently dug up and replaced with contempoary paving slabs - much the the outcry of local residents. The square is rather dominated by the gigantic new Police HQ. A general view of the CBD. The highest buildings are mainly hotels funded by the council, the big commercial property developers are not yet interested in investing in Itchenham although a renowned Telecommunications company has set up a high rise office block on Cross Street. Going back onto the Ring Road, this is Junction 2: Cross Street. Exit here for the railway station (no parking at any time, customers must use the multistorey car parks and travel by bus) and for Banister Park and the army camp to the East of the city. Junction 1: Northam: The oldest part of the ring road, hence the lower specification. This is ineffective and confusing as continuing over the flyover leads to Northam, to continue on the ring road, drivers have to exit on to the roundabout and turn left! There are no plans at present to replace this junction due to space constraints and the traffic volume does not currently warrant it. North Bridge: This bridge crosses the River Hamble. Again, constructing it was considerably difficult. The bridge had to be raised up higher than is normal to allow river traffic underneath. Junction 10: Shirley. We have come to the end of our journey I'm afraid. What happened to Junction 9 I hear you ask? Well this was to be situated to the West of Shirley and then go on to the proposed West Bridge however this was never built and so neither was Junction 9 - as it simply wouldn't lead anywhere. I hope you've enjoyed this update! More soon!

Date: 5/20/2005 6:59:36 AM Author: Woko GaryReggae: Sorry, Try this link: http://tokitoko.hp.infoseek.co.jp/Hiroshima-nishi.zip .quote> Thanks, works a treat. Lovely building by the way!

Thanks Woko...but the link doesn't seem to work any more

This is really cool, you've inspired me to start a new, more realistic region! I might even do a CJ but not quite yet! I have a question, in the image you posted below of Thames Spa, what is the Modern building (the concrete lattice one with the red panels) just SW of the Farmer's Market? I want that building!!!

The prefix should be nitelite (without the marks).

Wow, Europa House is great, it's good to have another Portsmouth BAT!

Thanks FosterK! That worked although I still have problems with textures not rendering. In the past I have fixed this by cliking 'reload' for the offending textures but it doesn't seem to work this time. In the shot below, there are several textures missing, mainly the brick texture. I reloaded the bitmap and did a preview render and it looked fine so then I exported it but it didn't show https://www.simtropolis.com/idealbb/files//TVC_Ingame.jpg align=baseline>

What on earth has happened here? This render has totally screwed up!!! https://www.simtropolis.com/idealbb/files//screwed_up_render.jpg align=baseline>

That's looking really good! Very modern and up to date.

What about the original Wembley, complete with twin towers? Now the real thing has gone (goodness knows why it wasn't Listed), this would be a good memorial.

Have you got the MAXIS Nightlight patch? You can download it from simcity.com Do other custom buildings work?

I love the 'Travel Lodge' style hotel, it's a very good example of the numerous hotels you get near airports and at motorway service stations.