Mayor wants meeting on traffic plans

Bus gates and street narrowing have been suggested to address Bradford on Avon's traffic problems

A mayor has asked for a face-to-face meeting with councillors to address "decades-long" traffic issues.

Mayor of Bradford on Avon, Jack Vittles, has written to two cabinet members at Wiltshire Council to discuss the future of transport in the town.

It comes after a report was published in January setting out a number of options for the town, including a new one-way system or narrowing streets.

Mr Vittles has requested the meeting to ask for clarification on the county council's plans, after the town council raised questions earlier this month.

Safety concerns about the level of traffic in the town have been repeatedly raised and the town council has asked for public responses on three scenarios to re-route traffic through its narrow streets.

It comes as the Department for Transport (DfT) estimates a 10% increase in cars by 2041.

'Hit by wing mirror'

Last month Wiltshire councillor Tim Trimble said: "It's a frequent complaint that pedestrians are hit by wing mirrors.

"One old lady was knocked down and broke her arm 18 months ago."

The three options set out to improve safety, congestion and air pollution included:

• Option A - creating a one- way system in Market Street & Silver Street.

• Option B - installing road narrowing 'pinch points' , two in Market Street and one in Silver Street.

• Option C - making Silver Street one-way combined with priority narrowing in Market Street.

Mr Vittles' letter states that Option A has been downgraded because of potential delays to the D1 bus route.

However, he asked: "If we accept the projection of 10% more cars by 2041 from the DfT, will the delays elsewhere on the route not be great enough to force rescheduling and or re-routing of the service in any case?"

'Considerable doubt'

The letter also said there was "considerable doubt" about the viability of introducing bus gates on Silver Street, adding that they "apparently have a record of unreliability and are often removed after a short period".

Mr Vittles asked for examples of bus gates working in similarly narrow streets, whether or not any trials could be run and at what cost.

The letter goes on to raise questions about how the scheme will reduce traffic volume, asking if there is a wider Wiltshire or Bath and North East Somerset Council strategy to address "traffic induced poor air quality" in all towns.

Councillor Nick Holder, Wiltshire Council's cabinet member for highways, said the council was happy to meet with the town council to discuss "longstanding traffic problems".

He added: "However, as we have been clear throughout this process, the town council – which commissioned the traffic modelling study and has held several local engagement events – needs to tell us which of the options set out in the study they’d like to proceed with.

“Once we know which option the town council would like to take forward, we can then look at how it can be realised.”