Bath LTNs 'create more danger for people supposed to protect'

Bath locals have said the controversial LTNs which were installed last week have ‘achieved more congestion on residential roads’ and have created more danger to the very people it’s supposed to benefit - pedestrians and cyclists.

Bollards were installed on Winifred’s Lane as part of the council’s programme of liveable neighbourhoods (also called “low traffic neighbourhoods” or LTNs). The work will see a major overhaul of Gay Street, which runs between Queen Square and the Circus, and a through traffic restriction on Catharine Place.

However, for the first 24 hours locals said they faced “chaos. ” Driver after driver was seen ignoring the new signage and heading up the lane, only to meet the bollards and be forced to reverse back out onto the junction with next to no visibility.

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A No Through Road sign and New Road Layout signs are in place, but drivers had continued to drive up the road. Following the initial issues, Road Closed signs were put in place to reinforce the message to drivers.

However in the last week, locals say ‘chaos’ has continued in and around the area. Videos show traffic queues in Sion Hill, as well a near crash, cars mounting the pavement, traffic jams, as well as some vehicles ignoring the restrictions.

Tim Spratt, speaking on behalf of more than 300 hundred residents who live on or close to Winifred's Lane and more than 3,500 people who’ve signed a petition against the ETRO, outlined the concerns at a Bath and North East Somerset Cabinet meeting on Thursday night.

He told the councilors present: “I’m here on behalf of people who have an innate understanding of the locality that they live in, day in day out. People who are now scared, frightened and deeply upset.

“These are residents who may also not have a voice, from the lower socio-economic areas of Julian Road and Morford Street who walk their children to St Andrews School, go to the shops and nearby doctors’ surgeries, and who now face bumper-to-bumper traffic and increased pollution where they live.

“In short, the second Lower Lansdown ETRO is unsafe, it’s unlawful, local residents don’t want it, and it wasn’t the outcome of the co-design process. Despite what some of you have said publicly, local residents were never consulted about the Winifreds Lane ETRO.

“Instead what your ETRO has achieved is more congestion on residential roads within the Liveable Neighbourhood, delays to bus timetables, longer car trips, raised pollution in front of schools and is a danger to the very people it’s supposed to benefit - pedestrians and cyclists.

“Please talk with us. Seek compromise and find an LTN for our area that is safe, works as its meant to, and which helps rather than hurts us.”

Cllr Manda Rigby, the council ’s cabinet member for highways, in response said that she did not believe that the ERTO was illegal. She added that monitoring is currently taking place but they couldn’t say yet where all the traffic has gone, but that they would share the monitoring while the trial is being carried out.

Leader of the council, Cllr Kevin Guy, added: “We listen to everyone and they can speak for themselves.” Referring to the comment made about people from lower socio-economic areas, he said: “We don’t need people in big houses telling us that they don’t have a voice. They can speak for themselves.”

A report by consultants SLR commissioned by the group and published Tuesday November 5 — the day before the scheme was due to go ahead — had warned that vehicles entering the lane by mistake would be forced to reverse onto the junction and that visibility was “insufficient to be safe.” The council insisted that the impacts of the scheme would be monitored .

Cllr Rigby had previously added: “Plenty of signs are in place at the point of the restrictions and on the advance route, and we expect people to adhere to the rules. Ignoring road signs is an offence that could result in these drivers receiving fines or points on a licence.”