I am a member of the Joint Highways Agency Committee of Norwich City
Council. Yesterday morning, it was announced at the Committee meeting that
the implementation of the scheme allowing 'freight consolidation vehicles'
to use the bus-and-bike lane on Newmarket Road will be delayed from March
until May, to allow time to consider the very strong
objections that have been raised against the scheme by cyclists, residents,
the Green Party, the LibDems, and others.
I was delighted, because the Council's consultation on this issue has been
abysmal; this
delay will provide a real opportunity for everyone to make their views
known on it. I urge readers of this blog with strong views on the issue or
personal
experience of cycling on this road to get in touch with the Transport
Officers at County Hall, over the next few weeks.
We in Norwich Green Party believe that there are other better
alternatives available than mixing cyclists and HGVs in narrow bus
lanes. Why not, for instance, incentivise use of the freight
consolidation centre by means of simply banning HGVs which are not
freight consolidation vehicles from using Newmarket Road and other such
roads at peak hours? That would provide a much more significant incentive
for
freight consolidation than would this proposed (ab-)use of the bus-and-bike
lane.
Council. Yesterday morning, it was announced at the Committee meeting that
the implementation of the scheme allowing 'freight consolidation vehicles'
to use the bus-and-bike lane on Newmarket Road will be delayed from March
until May, to allow time to consider the very strong
objections that have been raised against the scheme by cyclists, residents,
the Green Party, the LibDems, and others.
I was delighted, because the Council's consultation on this issue has been
abysmal; this
delay will provide a real opportunity for everyone to make their views
known on it. I urge readers of this blog with strong views on the issue or
personal
experience of cycling on this road to get in touch with the Transport
Officers at County Hall, over the next few weeks.
We in Norwich Green Party believe that there are other better
alternatives available than mixing cyclists and HGVs in narrow bus
lanes. Why not, for instance, incentivise use of the freight
consolidation centre by means of simply banning HGVs which are not
freight consolidation vehicles from using Newmarket Road and other such
roads at peak hours? That would provide a much more significant incentive
for
freight consolidation than would this proposed (ab-)use of the bus-and-bike
lane.
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