Bath’s LTNs causing bus delays, major bus operator warns
Liveable neighbourhoods in Bath are causing delays to some of the city’s busiest bus routes, bus operator First Bus has warned.
The bus company — which runs most of Bath’s buses — has said that the controversial closure of Sydney Road to through traffic had pushed more traffic onto other streets, which had delayed the busy U1 and U2 buses up to the university. It has also warned that Bath and North East Somerset Council ’s major plans to overhaul Gay Street next week could leave the north of Bath with no buses, if an incident closes George Street.
Bath and North East Somerset Council is rolling out liveable neighbourhoods — also called “low traffic neighbourhoods” or LTNs — across the city. They are intended to cut down on speeding and rat running along residential roads and to create safe and pleasant spaces for walking and cycling — but First Bus has warned that they could instead be pushing more people into their cars.
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In a response to an informal consultation on the council’s plans to make major changes to Gay Street as part of a new liveable neighbourhood, First Bus said: “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 recent Sydney Place LTN has pushed a lot of traffic out onto the bottom of Bathwick Hill, delaying service U1 and U2. You can see the traffic back up past Tesco Express on a bad day whereas, before this LTN was introduced, traffic would barely back up more than 10-12 cars.
“Service D1 is also experiencing increased journey times due to the increased volume of traffic being forced to remain on Beckford Road. There is a real lack of bus priority measure in any of these LTN’s.”
Sydney Road was closed to through traffic in April, as a liveable neighbourhood which has been highly controversial. People who live on the road have said they have been “ freed from the tyranny of the motor vehicle,” but people on neighbouring streets have warned it is just making traffic worse by their homes instead.
The council is now planning to make major changes to Gay Street next week as part of another liveable neighbourhood. The upper section of the street, between the junction with George Street and the Circus, will become only accessible from the Circus. Vehicles heading south down the upper section of the road would be able to turn left onto George Street or turn around and head back up to the Circus, but not carry on to Queen Square.
First Bus warned: “The Gay Street plans will prevent any buses from operating to the north of the city in the event of George Street being closed. We have a few carnivals each year that mean George Street gets closed for a few hours. During this time buses divert along The Circus & Gay Street to terminate at Queen Square.
“With this new LTN that will not be possible. Ultimately it means that if any incident occurs on George Street, Service 31 (Lansdown Park & Ride) will simply not be able to reach the city centre and would have to terminate on The Circus/Alfred Street.”
The concerns raised by First Bus were included in a report by the council’s traffic management team on the experimental traffic regulation order that would bring in the Lower Lansdown Liveable Neighbourhood, which includes the changes to Gay Street. The work is planned to happen on Monday November 4 and Tuesday November 5.
The council’s cabinet member for highways Manda Rigby said: “We have been engaging with key stakeholders, including First Bus, on the Sydney Road ETRO and are considering the data which is being collected as part of the trial. Obviously, we are keen to hear about any impacts (both positive and negative) on bus services and would be keen for First Bus to share this data with us.
“Potential impacts of the Lower Lansdown experimental schemes will be monitored and this information and data will be considered when a decision is made on whether the schemes should be modified, removed or made permanent. Whilst the proposed restriction in Gay Street would remove a potential alternative route for traffic should there be an incident or event that temporarily blocks George Street, such instances are not common and when they do occur, are likely to be of limited duration.”
The Lower Lansdown Liveable Neighbourhood will also see work carried out on November 1 to install bollards on Catharine Place, and work on Wednesday November 6 to install bollards and new signage at Winifred’s Lane, at the top of Cavendish Road.
The liveable neighbourhood will officially be in place as a trial and a consultation will run for the first six months while it is in place. A decision will then be made on whether to make it permanent.
The council had originally planned to bring in 15 liveable neighbourhoods across the city, but this has been cut back to 11 due to “funding constraints” and the impact of inflation on construction costs.