Transport plans to go on show

Friday, October 24, 2008

Council chiefs will put a controversial package of transport improvements on display at a three-day exhibition in Bath.

Bath and North East Somerset Council has drawn up £58 million of plans to tackle congestion in the city.

Among its proposals are the £16 million Bus Rapid Transit scheme through Newbridge and a new park and site at Bathampton.

It also wants to expand other park and ride sites and create new showcase bus routes.

There is opposition to both the rapid transit scheme and the new park and ride site, as well as to the expansion of the Newbridge park and ride facility.

All of its plans for the Bath Transportation Package will be on display at the Guildhall on November 6, 7 and 8.

There will be four planning applications.

These will be for:

* the new Bathampton park and ride

* expansion of Lansdown park and ride

* expansion of Odd Down park and ride

* expansion of Newbridge park and ride and the Bus Rapid Transit route which will link the Newbridge and

Bathampton park and rides, via the city centre.

Cabinet member for transport Cllr Charles Gerrish said: "The public exhibition represents an opportunity for all local residents across the Bath and North East Somerset area to see what the council would like to achieve for the benefit of the whole district and how we intend to tackle traffic congestion.

"The council recognises the fact the area faces gridlock unless transport measures are implemented that tackle traffic congestion. Doing nothing is not an option. "These vital elements of the council's transport plans that help us in improving transport and the public realm will expand the park and ride sites by over 2,500 spaces and provide bus rapid transit running from east to west. "This will also serve the Western Riverside which will become the location for 2,200 homes."

The council has warned that there will be a 14 per cent rise in cars in the city centre in the morning rush hour period if current trends continue.

Council representatives will be on hand to answer questions from residents at the exhibition, which runs from 3pm to 7pm on the Thursday, from 10am to 6pm on the Friday and from 9.30am to 5pm on the Saturday.

Comments (1)

A chance to 'SEE'. In other words, they don't care what anybody thinks, and are not prepared to listen and re-consider the hare-brained parts of the scheme. Perhaps a bit of consultation at an earlier stage might have produced a far better plan.

JC, Bath, commented on 24-Oct-2008 16:35

Read this article on the Bath Chronicle website.