Bus companies may scupper Broadgate plaza plan

[dutchman]

Plans to turn Coventry’s Broadgate into a traffic-free plaza in time for next year’s Olympics could be scuppered by opposition from bus companies.



Bus operators are considering a formal objection to Coventry City Council’s proposal to ban vehicles from the city centre’s main square, a major hub for buses.

The challenge could result in hold-ups and a public inquiry, and force council leaders to go back to the drawing board with £7m city centre redevelopment plans they describe as a “once in a lifetime opportunity”.

Council leaders confirmed last week they want to press ahead with banning all buses and taxis from Broadgate.

The work was scheduled to start in May, to rush through redevelopment and leave a “lasting legacy” from 2012, when Olympic football is staged at the Ricoh Arena.

But a public inquiry would take many months to schedule, with a verdict reached months after.

The bus companies are concerned they could lose millions of pounds in revenue by having to divert routes to less accessible bus stops.

All sides have so far failed to reach agreement, despite a series of discussions between council chiefs, passenger transport authority Centro, National Express Coventry (formerly Travel Coventry), Stagecoach and DeCourcey Travel.

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