The controversial Odd Down bus lane which has been deemed one of the Council’s ‘longest running traffic sagas’ is set to be removed to allow better access to the popular Park & Ride site.
Back in 2009, £1million was spent on the new bus lane, which attracted international media attention for being just 700 yards in length.
The information came about after details obtained by Peasedown St John Councillor Nathan Hartley were made public.
Nathan said: “It was always a shock to find out that such a short stretch of road could cost so much money. It came at a time when the council was cutting budgets from youth services and other departments, and had completely mismanaged it’s spending priorities.
“The disbelief led to media attention from across Europe, with the story being covered in France, Sweden, Ireland and throughout the UK.”
“Since 2009 the Odd Down bus lane has made very little difference to the district’s traffic and transport problems. The south of the city still sees huge traffic jams of vehicles coming into Bath from Peasedown St John, Radstock and Midsomer Norton at the start and end of the working day.”
Since 2014, a campaign to reconfigure the bus lane has been led by Peasedown St John Councillor Karen Walker (Independent).
Her lobbying has led to the recent announcement by the council that finances will be spent on changing the layout of the stretch of road between Dunkerton and Odd Down. The work will see the bus lane made better use of.
Karen said: “The council has agreed to improve access to the Odd Down Park & Ride by repositioning the bus lane and opening it up to cars accessing the site.
“This will see the current bus lane, on the left-hand side, primarily used for vehicles going into the city, with the middle-lane prioritised for access to the Park & Ride.
“These changes will put this entire stretch of road to better use, and hopefully address some of our huge traffic problems.
“It shouldn’t have taken eight years achieve this result, and 700 yards of concrete should never have cost so much money. But, we’re hoping these changes will make a difference for us all!”
Bath and North East Somerset Council released the following statement: “The bus lane was part of the Greater Bristol Bus Network (GBBN) major scheme which was funded by the Department for Transport, not B&NES.
“The work did not result therefore in cutting budgets from youth services and other departments.
“It was one of a package of measures that were put in place on this corridor as well as two other corridors in Bath & North East Somerset. All were funded by the Department for Transport as part of the Greater Bristol Bus Network scheme.
“The purpose of the bus lane was to enable buses coming into Bath from Radstock and Peasedown St John, each of them carrying up to 50 people, to bypass the slow-moving queue of cars, and thereby help the buses to operate punctually and encourage more car-users to use the bus services.
“The investment by the Department for Transport in this, and other bus priority measures on this corridor, encouraged a small bus operator (Somerbus) to launch a new bus service, from Peasedown St John to Bath in 2010, and encouraged First to enhance their services along the corridor.
“Traffic flows have changed since 2009 and new housing developments are planned, so it was timely to review the current allocation of road space.
“Recent modelling based on current and predicted traffic flows, shows that the proposal will have a beneficial effect on all traffic with no detriment to bus journey times.
“Consultation will now take place on the proposal to open up the bus lane for all traffic going into Bath and restrict the other lane (the current general traffic running lane) to traffic turning right into the Park &Ride site.”
