MOTORISTS could be banned from Worcester’s central road bridge and more than 30 miles of new bus lanes created, under radical plans submitted to the Government.

Documents released to your Worcester News under the Freedom of Information Act reveal county transports chiefs want to transform both Deansway and the city bridge into “green” routes, open only to buses, bicycles and pedestrians, if they win funding for a second city centre bridge.

County Hall also intends to build 31 miles of new bus lanes along six key routes into Worcester, connected to six new park-and-ride sites around the edges of the city.

The radical proposals are revealed in a 17-page document outlining Worcestershire County Council’s transport plans for Worcester up to 2016, supporting a £187 million bid for Government funding.

Parts of the bid were made public in May, including proposals to dual the A4440 southern link road, build a new road bridge between Croft Road and Hylton Road and undertake unspecified “measures to promote sustainable travel”.

Now the full details have been revealed.

Under the heading ‘City Centre Bridge’, the bid document states: “A new bridge diverting traffic to the north of the city centre will facilitate the downgrading of the existing bridge to a ‘green bridge’ (public transport, walk and cycle only)... and the downgrading of Deansway to shared use (predominantly pedestrians, cyclists, public transport and access-only vehicles).”

Speaking to your Worcester News, John Hobbs, head of environmental services, tried to downplay the proposal, describing it as “an option to consider in the future”.

He said: “On reflection, there would be an ‘up grading’ of the existing bridge and Deansway, where reduced traffic would enable plaza-style designs and ‘shared road space’ concepts to be considered.

“If the combination of a new bridge and the improvement of the existing bridge and Deansway area were successful, it would be an option to consider traffic restrictions in the future – perhaps at weekends and for festivals initially.”

Equally controversial are plans for a massive expansion in bus lanes and park-and-ride sites, copying the model used in other cathedral cities such as Cambridge, Oxford and York.

The county’s ongoing Newtown Road bus lane project has already met some opposition from local residents, councillors and businesses. A similar scheme for Barbourne Road will be unveiled next month.

But the county now wants funding for bus lanes along five more “premium routes”, including the A38 Bath Road, A44 Bromyard Road and A449 Ombersley Road.

These routes would link to new park-and-ride sites at St Peter’s, Claines, Grove Farm, Sixways, Whittington and possibly Rushwick, as well as the existing facility at Perdiswell.

All the plans are subject to Government approval, with a decision expected early next year. If agreed, Worcester’s new-look transport system would be in place by 2015.