Newcastle City Council is holding a public consultation this month for a £12M scheme to improve a strategic route into the city centre.
The local authority wants to improve public transport-priority measures on West Road, which it describes as a ‘key corridor in the city’s bus network’.
The main aim of the proposal is to ensure traffic flow is constant by reducing congestion, in order to make the main road more environmentally-friendly. It hopes this will enable public transport to run more reliably and efficiently.
The scheme will include priority bus and cycle lanes, parking improvements, alterations to the position and type of pedestrian crossings and the provision of more traffic signals. It will also see the installation of cycle parking, new seats and street trees, bus stop improvements, and a reduced speed limit.
Richard Hibbert, the council’s head of transport strategy, said: ‘Traffic signals will be able to understand which buses are running on time, late or early. Late buses will get a hurry call to keep them on time. This is an important response because West Road is such a heavily-used route.
‘This is not about closing the road to traffic, but about managing the traffic flow and making sure we sustain it as a key public transport route.’
Hibbert added that the ‘intelligent signals’ would have the capability to tell how many passengers are on buses, but this was not something that was being pursued at present.
The report will go before the council executive for a decision in July before a possible submission for bid in August.
It is hoped that delivery of the scheme could be completed by 2012, in time for the city’s new bus network.
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