Council announces closure of busy Coventry bus lane over Christmas period

[dutchman]

This is to 'ease' traffic heading towards the city centre, the council said



The council has announced a 'suspension' on a major route in Coventry this Coventry. More residents will be flocking to the city centre this festive period as several attractions and events take place in the heart of the city.

With an influx of visitors, the council has implemented extra measures to ease traffic on the roads. Warwick Road bus gate will be closed until Saturday, January 9.

Another route will be open onto the Ring Road. This is so as to facilitate traffic at other junctions while ongoing road works take place in the area.

Coventry City Council wrote on Twitter: "Speaking of the festive period, we know how busy the city centre gets at this time of year and we want to do our bit to help ease the journey. So, we’ll be suspending the Warwick Road bus gate from this Saturday until 9 January 2023.

"By doing this, we’ll be opening another route onto the Ring Road which should ease the pressure at other junctions while we have the ongoing road works at junctions 7 and 9. We hope this helps to make your journeys a bit quicker and safer. So you can spend more time experiencing everything the city has to offer this winter."

Warwick Road bus lane was introduced in 2015 as part of a one-way system by the city's station. Since it was built, it has been the top issuer of fines in five of the last seven years.

Warwick Road may be the most consistent hotspot but it's never fined the highest number of people in a single year.

On its website, the council writes: "We operate a bus lane enforcement scheme to improve public transport reliability, journey times and to encourage sustainable travel. Bus lane signs and markings clearly indicate both the start and end of bus lanes and highlight the hours of operation.

"If there are no times indicated, then the bus lane is in operation 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

[dutchman]

And when drivers forget it has returned to being a bus lane the council can start collecting fines again, the real reason for the closure!

[rebbonk]

Spot on, Dutchman

[dutchman]

Council backtracks over plan to lift suspension of busy Coventry bus lane



Coventry City Council has backtracked over changes to the Warwick Road bus gate. The busy bus lane was suspended over the Christmas period and open to other motorists to ease traffic.

Last week the council said the bus gate was back in operation. However it has now announced that the temporary suspension will now continue until roadworks in the area are finished.

The temporary suspension originally ended on Monday, January 9, with immediate effect. But at 1pm on Friday (January 13) it was back, according to a post on the council's Facebook page.

The council said: "Good news! We're continuing the temporary suspension of the Warwick Road bus gate while we have the ongoing road works at Junction 7.

"This measure will remain in place until the work at Junction 7 is complete. We hope this makes your journeys a bit quicker and safer."

No date has been set for when the bus lane will reopen. But the council said the measure would remain in place until the works have been completed.

Warwick Road bus lane was introduced in 2015 as part of a one-way system by the city's station. Since it was built, it has been the top issuer of fines in five of the last seven years.

On its website, the council writes: "We operate a bus lane enforcement scheme to improve public transport reliability, journey times and to encourage sustainable travel. Bus lane signs and markings clearly indicate both the start and end of bus lanes and highlight the hours of operation.

"If there are no times indicated, then the bus lane is in operation 24 hours a day, seven days a week."

[dutchman]

"This measure will remain in place until the work at Junction 7 is complete."

So forever then since it's no nearer completion than it was when they started!