Council under fire for £1M bus lane

10 June 2009

A new £1M bus lane in Bath has come under fire from councillors who claim the money could have been better spent.

Bath & North East Somerset Council revealed the bus priority lane on the A367 was aimed at reducing congestion at a ‘gridlock hot spot’ on the outskirts of the city.

However, Liberal Democrat Cllr Nathan Hartley has hit out over the cost of the 700-yard long lane, saying that only four buses travel down the road every hour.

‘We have lots of potholes caused by the heavy snow in February and are still waiting for them to be filled. If the council has £1M to spend on a bus lane, they should be spending that on repairing potholes.’

Charles Gerrish, the council’s cabinet member for customer services, said the bus lane was a measure to improve public transport and was recommended by ‘independent’ transport engineers.

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