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Cardiff's Castle Street set to reopen to cars

Getty Images Police van driving along Castle Street, CardiffGetty Images
The road reopened to some vehicles in November - but remained closed to private cars

A key road in Cardiff city centre is set to reopen to private vehicles following a public consultation.

Castle Street was turned into a dining area last summer but reopened in November to buses and taxis.

Cardiff council's cabinet is meeting on Thursday and is set to approve opening it to all vehicles from the autumn.

But the number of lanes for private vehicles could be cut from three to two as part of moves to tackle congestion and air pollution.

A dedicated bus lane and a cycleway will also be retained, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

Of the 6,227 responses to the consultation, the council said 53.8% wanted the road reopened to private cars, while 33.8% wanted them kept off it.

Cardiff’s Castle Street was turned into an al fresco dining area in July 2020

Respondents aged over 55 were heavily in favour of reopening the road to private cars, while those aged under 35 were generally in favour of keeping it closed.

Councillor Caro Wild, cabinet member for strategic planning and transport, said: "While air quality is generally improving across the city, we share concerns that localised traffic congestion can cause issues in central residential areas.

"We want to get more data about this, especially as things begin to return to normal and traffic numbers increase.

"We need to understand if the switch to home-working and the rises in active travel numbers which we have seen will have a long-term effect on traffic flows."