Liveable neighbourhoods 'causing delays' on bus routes
BBCLiveable neighbourhoods are causing delays across busy routes, a bus operator has warned.
First Bus - which runs most of Bath’s buses – says the closure of a city centre road to through traffic has had pushed more traffic onto other streets, causing congestion and delays.
Bath and North East Somerset Council is rolling out liveable neighbourhoods — also called “low traffic neighbourhoods” or LTNs — across the city.
The operator is warning council plans to overhaul other routes could cause further disruption and make cars “the most attractive option” for people in the city.
The controversial schemes aim to cut speeding and rat-running along residential roads and to create safer places for cyclists and pedestrians — but First Bus has warned that they could push people towards cars.
“Any LTN’s push traffic out onto main roads and increase traffic, thus delaying bus services and making the car the most attractive option", the operator said.
The liveable neighbourhood introduced on Sydney Road in April has been met with mixed opinions, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.
People who live on the road have said they have been “freed from the tyranny of the motor vehicle.” But those on neighbouring streets have warned it is just making traffic worse by their homes.
First say “The recent Sydney Place LTN has pushed a lot of traffic out onto the bottom of Bathwick Hill, delaying service U1 and U2."
The council is also set to make changes to Gay Street as part of another liveable neighbourhood.
First warned the plans will “prevent any buses from operating to the north of the city in the event of George Street being closed."
In response BANES council said road closures in the area are "not common and are usually "of limited duration.”
The council originally planned to introduce 15 liveable neighbourhoods in Bath, but this has been cut back to 11 due to “funding constraints” and the impact of inflation on construction costs.
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