DfT To Spend Millions On Bath Bus Improvements

[whole diary]

[Lee]

Funding for a hi-tech bus route across Bath has been confirmed by a Government minister (links below.)
http://thisisbath.co.uk/displayNode.jsp?nodeId=163490&command=displayContent&sourceNode=163316&contentPK=18578860&folderPk=89126&pNodeId=163047

http://www.gnn.gov.uk/environment/fullDetail.asp?ReleaseID=319603&NewsAreaID=2&NavigatedFromDepartment=True

Transport minister Jim Fitzpatrick visited the city to give initial approval to a package of measures worth nearly ^51million to improve local bus services.

The Department for Transport will contribute more than ^48.5million once the package is fully approved.

A key element is a new so-called rapid transit bus route running from Newbridge to Lambridge - one section of which will be segregated from other traffic.

It is part of the Bath Public Transport Package , which also relies on the success of plans for a new park and ride facility at Lambridge.

The Government says the package will mean improvements to nine major bus routes into the city.

It also includes:

* expansion of existing park and rides sites at Newbridge , Lansdown and Odd Down to create an extra 2,000 spaces

* an extension of the Bristol to Bath Cycleway path to the city centre

* bus priority measures on other routes , to allow buses to negotiate junctions more quickly and run more smoothly ,

* better bus stops allowing easier access , and new shelters with real time London Underground-style information for passengers.

The decision means that the Bath Public Transport Package has been accepted onto the list of schemes the department expects to fund. Bath and North East Somerset Council will now be able to progress it to the next stage in the approval process.

The Government says the scheme will be subject to further consideration before full approval can be given.

The rapid transit route will include a mile-long segregated section using the disused railway line between Brassmill Lane and Windsor Bridge Road. Elsewhere it will use bus lanes with priority measures at traffic lights , linked with the redevelopment of the Western Riverside and the SouthGate development.

Here are some related articles about the state of Bristol's bus service , with an interesting reader comment calling for more investment in the rail network (link below.)
http://thisisbristol.co.uk/displayNode.jsp?nodeId=145365&command=displayContent&sourceNode=145191&contentPK=18584661&folderPk=83726&pNodeId=144922

http://thisisbristol.co.uk/displayNode.jsp?nodeId=145365&command=displayContent&sourceNode=145191&contentPK=18586136&folderPk=83726&pNodeId=144922

[Jim]

I like the idea of extending the cycle path, which I have used on many occasions, and never failed to enjoy a ride down it!

[Lee]

The council says it expects to prepare the final bid for the Government in late 2008. Should the bid be successful , work would start in 2009 (link below.)
http://www.thisisbath.co.uk/displayNode.jsp?nodeId=163490&command=displayContent&sourceNode=163316&contentPK=18638336&folderPk=89126&pNodeId=163047

[Jim]

The council says it expects to prepare the final bid for the Government in late 2008. Should the bid be successful , work would start in 2009 (link below.)
http://www.thisisbath.co.uk/displayNode.jsp?nodeId=163490&command=displayContent&sourceNode=163316&contentPK=18638336&folderPk=89126&pNodeId=163047

Thus Bath will be a building sitefor another few years!

[Lee]

Opposition is growing to the plans (link below.)
http://thisisbath.co.uk/displayNode.jsp?nodeId=180730&command=displayContent&sourceNode=232315&home=yes&more_nodeId1=163047&contentPK=19647436

[Lee]

The plans have sparked fierce opposition from homeowners who face losing chunks of their garden (link below.)
http://thisisbath.co.uk/displayNode.jsp?nodeId=163490&command=displayContent&sourceNode=163316&contentPK=19936064&folderPk=89126&pNodeId=163047

They claim they will lose their privacy and that an established wildlife haven could be affected.

On Tuesday, a Response2Route (http://response2route.wordpress.com/) protest group meeting attracted around 115 people at the Dolphin Inn in Locksbrook Road.

A leaflet drop and public meeting are being planned to which Bath MP^▸ (Member of Parliament) Don Foster, transport minister Jim Fitzpatrick, council officers, and environmental groups would be invited.

[Lee]

A public meeting about the new hi-tech bus route through Bath has been cancelled (link below.)
http://thisisbath.co.uk/displayNode.jsp?nodeId=163490&command=displayContent&sourceNode=163316&contentPK=20134349&folderPk=89126&pNodeId=163047

The consultation, due to be held in Kennington Road on Wednesday, April 9 has been postponed by Bath and North East Somerset Council until further notice.

Residents in Lower Weston have previously claimed there has been a lack of information from the council.

But a spokesman said the date of the meeting had been moved in response to requests from the local community.

The Response2route group will hold its next meeting at the Dolphin Inn pub on Monday, March 31, at 7.30pm.

[Lee]

Campaigners in Bath are stepping up their fight to block the construction of a high-speed bus link behind their homes (link below.)
http://thisissomerset.co.uk/displayNode.jsp?nodeId=147472&command=displayContent&sourceNode=242195&contentPK=20406809&folderPk=113662&pNodeId=251478

The Response to Route group say they have been encouraged by the shelving of controversial plans to build a bus route along a stretch of the Bristol to Bath cycle path due to the level of public opposition (link below.)
http://www.firstgreatwestern.info/coffeeshop/index.php?topic=1608.msg10568#msg10568

Now those living close to a stretch of the earmarked route in Bath are hoping they can force a similar rethink by council chiefs.

Response to Route holds its next public meeting at Emmanuel Church, Apsley Road, Bath, on April 23 at 7pm.

[Lee]

Response to Route holds its next public meeting at Emmanuel Church, Apsley Road, Bath, on April 23 at 7pm.

At the public meeting, people will have a chance to raise their concerns with the council's cabinet member for transport, Cllr Charles Gerrish. The meeting will now start at 6.45pm (link below.)
http://thisisbath.co.uk/displayNode.jsp?nodeId=180730&command=displayContent&sourceNode=232315&home=yes&more_nodeId1=163047&contentPK=20433349

He has been given the option of speaking for up to 20 minutes, and local councillors Caroline Roberts and Loraine Morgan-Brinkhurst (Lib Dem, Newbridge) as well as Conservative Parliamentary hopeful Fabian Richter have all confirmed their attendance.

The Campaign to Protect Rural England, the Avon Wildlife Trust, the Federation of Bath Residents, Sustrans and the Bath Cycling Campaign are among the organisations invited to attend and make short statements or ask questions from the floor.

Residents Nadine Geary of Ashley Avenue and Michael Briggs of Newbridge Road will speak to summarise key objections and then there will be a show of hands to guage the level of opposition to the plans.

[Lee]

Report on the Response2Route meeting (link below.)
http://thisisbath.co.uk/displayNode.jsp?nodeId=180730&command=displayContent&sourceNode=232315&home=yes&more_nodeId1=163047&contentPK=20477815

[Lee]

Bath MP^▸ (Member of Parliament) Don Foster is calling on council officials to re-examine plans for a rapid bus route through the city (link below.)
http://www.thisisbath.co.uk/news/Cross-city-rapid-bus-route-rethought-says-Foster/article-335228-detail/article.html

The council's overview and scrutiny panel will be discussing the scheme at a meeting at 10am next Thursday at the Guildhall.

Mr Foster is due to speak at the meeting, which will also be attended by members of the opposition group Response2Route.

Members of the public can make submissions to the panel and contribute to the debate next week.

Also, four new bus shelters have been put up in the centre of Bath in a drive to build on an increase in public transport use (link below.)
http://www.thisisbath.co.uk/news/Bus-passengers-chance-undercover-assignment/article-334330-detail/article.html

The city has bucked a national downward trend with a 13 per cent increase in bus passenger numbers last year.

The new shelters are part of a ^70,000 programme of investment across the Bath area.

[Lee]

A council watchdog panel has voted against reviewing a ^58 million transport scheme which includes a controversial bus rapid transit project (link below.)
http://www.thisisbath.co.uk/news/Fresh-row-BRT-scheme/article-354572-detail/article.html

Members of the Response2Route pressure group backed by city MP^▸ (Member of Parliament) Don Foster called for Bath and North East Somerset Council to take a fresh look at the package of ideas that includes the ^16 million bus project through Newbridge.

The group wanted some sort of public inquiry while Mr Foster also wanted an independent review.

But a council scrutiny committee voted against the idea, with ruling Conservatives saying the city must not lose the momentum of work to tackle congestion.

The pressure group and opposition Liberal Democrats say residents have not been adequately informed of the details of the BRT plan which will see ten households lose their gardens and six businesses lose their land.

More details have been promised at a public exhibition to be held on November 6,7 and 8.

If given planning permission the new bus route will be under construction by 2009 and open by Autumn 2012.

[Lee]

Council chiefs determined to drive through a ^58 million package of transport plans have launched a new mini-website to focus on the city's congestion problems (link below.)
http://www.thisisbath.co.uk/news/Warning-Bath-traffic-jams/article-361840-detail/article.html

Bath and North East Somerset Council says www.bathnes.gov.uk/stopgridlock provides "a stark warning about increasing levels of traffic congestion".

The council says new figures reveal that the number of cars travelling through the heart of Bath at rush hour is to increase by 14 per cent in just ten years.

Already 27,000 people travel in and out of Bath by car to get to and from work every day and the annual cost of traffic congestion is put at ^50 million.

B&NES also highlights the fact that drivers in the former Avon currently spend a fifth of their journeys at a standstill.

The website - part of the main B&NES site - is being launched as the council faces opposition on both sides of the city to the two biggest elements of its Bath Transportation Package.

Both the Bus Rapid Transit scheme to create a dedicated bus route through Newbridge and plans for a park and ride site at Bathampton have proved contentious.

The new mini-website will look at the measures being put together by the council to provide better public transport and ease congestion.

People will be able to subscribe to updates, and express their views about the council's plans on the site.

[Lee]

Response2Route has suggested a circular route which would use Newbridge Road for inbound buses and Lower Bristol Road for buses travelling away from the city centre (link below.)
http://www.thisisbath.co.uk/news/Undefined-Headline/article-366336-detail/article.html

It says this would help to spread the traffic out over a wider area and reduce the need for extensive works.

The use of smaller, more frequent, buses rather than the larger vehicles planned was also suggested.

[Lee]

Traders concerned about the impact of the new rapid bus route through Bath were among those who walked its proposed route today (link below.)
http://www.thisisbath.co.uk/news/Traders-concern-impact-new-bus-route-shops/article-378195-detail/article.html