A new bus lane on this road – or pay to drive along it (From Worcester News)

A new bus lane on this road – or pay to drive along it

7:52am Friday 28th March 2008 in News By Jack Blanchard

DRIVERS in Worcester city centre could face London-style congestion charging if plans for new bus lanes are rejected, Worcestershire's highways chief has warned.

Councillor Derek Prodger, the county councillor in charge of our roads, has urged the people of Worcester to get behind his efforts to reduce city congestion through the introduction of bus lanes and new services along key routes such as Newtown Road and Barbourne Road.

The council's proposed Newtown Road bus lane is out for public consultation and has already met with some local opposition - but Coun Prodger told your Worcester News that if his plans are rejected, the council may resort to more drastic measures.

"We have to get people out of their cars and on to the buses," he said.

"The basis is to look at how we can put bus routes into Worcester along routes such as Newtown Road.

"If we can't get support for that then there are other ideas I have to consider - and one of them is congestion charging. I would be reluctant to do it - I don't support congestion charging - but we have to get people out of their cars."

Londoners currently pay £8 a day to drive into the city centre, and councils in Greater Manchester and Nottingham are now considering similar schemes.

Coun Prodger said: "I will wait to see what people have said at this consultation. At the end of the day, it's the public that will make the decision for me and my colleagues. If we don't get this scheme, we will have to look at other ways of solving congestion in Worcester city centre."

The proposed Newtown Road scheme is part of a wider project that would eventually see a new bus service taking passengers from the park-and-ride site at Perdiswell, across to a similar site at the revamped Sixways, down past the hospital, along Newtown Road to Shrub Hill Station and into the city centre.

"Getting a comprehensive service running around that part of town is what this is all about," Coun Prodger said.

The Newtown Road plans, if approved, will see a new section of carriageway built between Woodgreen Drive roundabout and Canterbury Road, to be used as a dedicated bus and cycle lane.

At the other end of the road, from Ronkswood Crescent down to Sherriff Street, a new bus lane would be constructed in the existing carriageway where the road is already quite wide. The middle section of Newtown Road would not have a dedicated bus lane, but parking will be banned to free up extra space for two lanes of traffic.

Coun Prodger said. "We've just got to get the traffic moving down that road. We can't have people blocking it with parked cars."

The public consultation ends on April 11. Then a bid will be made to the Government to fund the project if it receives public backing.

A second phase of the project leading down to City Walls Road is currently being drawn up and may involve making roads around Shrub Hill station one-way only.

• Can anything be done to solve the traffic problems in Worcester? What would it take to get you out of your car? Discuss this in depth in our Your Say section here.