Cardiff's Castle Street looks set to stay open to cars

Cardiff Council's ruling cabinet has been advised to allow general traffic to continue using Castle Street

A key road in Cardiff city centre looks set to remain open to general traffic.

Castle Street shut to become an outdoor dining space in 2020, before reopening to buses and taxis.

Following a consultation, it then reopened to general traffic in June 2021 as a temporary measure.

A report found that permanently banning general traffic on the road would lead to a rise in nitrogen dioxide levels on the city's wider road network.

Councillor Dan De'Ath said keeping Castle Street open would also help traffic to flow in and out of the city centre.

"The modelling data shows that allowing all traffic to use Castle Street does marginally improve the overall air quality in the city centre and the surrounding road network," said Mr De'Ath, cabinet member for strategic planning and transport.

"When transport planning, we must ensure that there are adequate routes from the east of the city to the west and vice versa, not only for motorists, but for cyclists and pedestrians as well."

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With disruption to traffic expected in Cardiff due to future construction work, such as the development of a new tram line to Cardiff Bay, it is hoped that making the move permanent will improve traffic flow in the city, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

"We know that we will have to look at restricting the east to west route via Callaghan Square where traffic lanes will need to be removed to allow the new on street tram/train line to be built for the first phase of Cardiff Crossrail.

"This is an exciting project which will really begin to change the public transport offer across the city."

Cardiff Council's cabinet will meet to discuss the future of Castle Street on 27 April, with a recommendation to allow general traffic to continue using it.