Council leader backs call to name street near new bus station ‘Cheers Drive’
Cardiff Council leader Huw Thomas has given an unanimous thumbs up to the suggestion that a road leading to the new Cardiff bus station should be named ‘Cheers Drive’.
The well known saying synonymous with Cardiff Bus passengers wanting to express their thanks to the driver for the journey is now part of the fabric of the city, so much so that it has been immortalised on t-shirts by well known local brand I Loves The ‘Diff.
It was I Loves The ‘Diff that started the ‘Cheers Drive’ ball rolling, or should that be, engine running.
Posting on Twitter he said: “If @cardiffcouncil doesn’t create a small road leading to the new #Cardiff bus station called Cheers Drive it’ll have really missed a trick”
If @cardiffcouncil doesn’t create a small road leading to the new #Cardiff bus station called Cheers Drive it’ll have really missed a trick. pic.twitter.com/T25fSuAUzx
— I Loves The ‘Diff (@ILovesTheDiff) August 12, 2021
The post had hundreds of positive responses, including one by local councillor Jayne Cowan who then launched a petition calling on Cardiff Council to name a small road leading to the new Cardiff Bus Station as ‘Cheers Drive’.
The petition has so far had more than 800 signatures.
Let’s do it!
However, so quickly had the suggestion caught people’s imaginations that it had barely got out of first gear before Cardiff Council leader Huw Thomas took to Twitter responding positively to the I Loves The ‘Diff tweet, while hinting at additional naming plans for the new bus station, due to be completed by the end of 2022.
He wrote: “Great idea. Let’s do it! I also noticed the other day that one of the old Temperance Town roads was called Eisteddfod St. That would be nice to acknowledge too. Watch this space!”
I Loves The ‘Diff said: “I was just packing a Cheers Drive T-shirt for a customer and it struck me that sometimes the humour of Wales and Cardiff doesn’t always come through when we’re modernising our cities, so this might be a novel way to celebrate ‘Kairdiff’ humour and show that we don’t take ourselves too seriously (despite wanting to be taken seriously as a European capital!)
“At first I thought it could be just a suburban road but then I thought it might be better near to the bus station, in the heart of the city.”
One of the I Loves The ‘Diff ‘Cheers Drive!’ t-shirts had national exposure when presenter Alex Jones wore a tee while giving a bus tour of Cardiff for The One Show.
“Whether the expression is unique to Kairdiff is not the point,” he added. “To us, it’s as local as Clarke’s Pies and Billy the Seal: when you hears it, you knows yer in the ‘Diff.”
However, one Twitter user did spell out the potential flaw in the ‘Cheers Drive’ plan.
@MaxHarvey79 posted about ‘the confusion it might cause’, imagining a conversation between driver and passenger…
Drive: Where do you want to go?
Passenger: Cheers Drive
Drive: You’re welcome, but where do you want to go?
Passenger: Cheers Drive
(and repeat!)
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Cardiff council really is pathetic. Massive foreign flags, public consultations in darkened rooms, incompetent road closures and childish road naming campaigns.
Hmm I disagree with you there, coming from Cardiff and once being a Cardiff bus driver, I think the road name is a great idea. We need more humour in our too serious society.
Cheers Drive is a wonderful suggestion, and a nod of recognition to all our great drivers! Touch of humour too.
Thanks drive! 😊
If you hate Cardiff that much you should move, hopefully very far away
Don’t live in Cardiff. You DO realise I was talking about Cardiff council don’t you? I mean I hope my use of the term Cardiff council made that quite clear. One would have to be brain damaged to think that by stating Cardiff council, I meant the city of Cardiff.
And “Cheers Drive” is as entertaining as “boaty mcboatface”
Cytuno ‘da ti Cynan, mae cynghorwyr Caerdydd yn colli’r plot!
Great idea 😊
Sorry to have to be the grown-up about this, but a Drive is a low traffic volume, usually closed at one end local distributor road for giving access to a small number of buildings. Not really suitable as a feeder road for a bus station. Doesn’t suit the “witty pun” of the eternal manbabies so bring on the downvotes. But words have meanings. Diluting them for a tedious pun is silly. If you don’t like it, get on your trouts and armchair the pointy down fingers. See? Nonsense.
You’re too serious man! Chill ! It’s just a road name, it has to be called something!
Mmmm better than Prince this or Duchess that, or the (heaven forbid) Jubilee somewhere, or a whole estate of time serving Councillor what’s his names. BTW have they gathered enough gumption to revoke planning for that butcher’s apron monstrosity yet?
Nope.