'No plans' for Coventry pollution charge

[dutchman]

There are no plans to implement a congestion charge in Coventry, a councillor has confirmed

A leading councillor has condemned suggestions a charge could be imposed on the city to tackle traffic pollution issues.

The speculation came after West Midlands mayor Andy Street was quoted as saying that the measure was something that Birmingham “is going to have to do.”

But councillor Jim O’Boyle, Coventry council’s cabinet member for jobs and regeneration, said there were no plans to do anything similar in Coventry.

He said: “The first thing to make clear is that the West Midlands Combined Authority does not have the power to impose a pollution charge on this city.

“The issue in Birmingham is different as the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) has identified that traffic pollution is a concern in their city centre but that is not the case here.

“Yes, there are a small number of roads in the city where levels are higher than we would want at certain times of the day but they are not in the city centre.

“They are roads leading in and out of the city and we are closely monitoring the issue and working with DEFRA to identify ways of improving our city’s air quality and avoiding a need for a pollution charge.

“But what is absolutely clear is that the West Midlands Combined Authority has no power to impose that on us.”

[rebbonk]

I don't trust O'Boyle one iota

[dutchman]

A cabinet meeting Tuesday (February 12) is set to approve submitting the plan to government



The council will seek around £80million from the government’s Clean Air Fund and Implementation Plan fund to introduce the measures over a 10-year period.

One of the most controversial plans is the potential closure of the Coundon Road at the level crossing – a major artery into the city.

The council officer’s report states this will benefit pedestrians, cyclists and public transport services – including more reliable rail services.

There would also be peak-time traffic restrictions on Holyhead Road between the railway bridge and the ring road junction, the report says.

Spon End would also see improvements to road capacity and routes for pedestrians and cyclists to reduce congestion.

A more extensive cycle network could also be created with major new bike lanes from the city centre to the outskirts of the Coventry.

The capacity of the ring road junction 7 will also be improved to accommodate the increasing number of pedestrians and cyclists, allowing easy access to the city centre, the report states.

A grant has also been secured to install 39 electric charging ports across the city centre to accommodate the city’s electric taxi fleet.

It will also see 140 ports installed across residential areas costing £300,000 to encourage electric car ownership, the report adds.

The A4600 is one of the city’s main bottlenecks and to ease pollution the council will upgrade traffic lights and reduce the width of the bus border near the Brays and Clay Lane junction – as well as implement new traffic lights on the Brays Lane, Binley Road junction.

These changes would improve traffic flow, the report states.

A £1.5million plan for National Express to fit its older buses with new lower emissions engines is also dependent on the success of the council’s bid.

[dutchman]

Green campaigners hit out at Coventry's pollution-busting plans

ENVIRONMENTAL campaigners have hit out at Coventry council’s drastic plans to reduce toxic air pollution in line with government requirements.

Campaigner Peter Maddock said: “The action plan does set out to address some of the issues that will need to be tackled in the longer term.

“Its baseline is a comprehensive modelling of current traffic flows and therefore ignores the future additional traffic flows that will come from 25,000 extra houses in Coventry and another seven or 8,000 on our boundaries in Finham, Westwood Heath and Burton Green.

“It also fails to model the heavy goods vehicles additional traffic from the employment proposals in the local plan.

“The action plan fails to quantify the effects on people’s health such as respiration among children and higher than normal dementia rates.

“The document does not set out how the council will monitor NO2 or particulates, I have to question this.

“The council is bringing forward major developments well in advance of any solutions to air pollution, the situation will inevitably get worse.

“The Coundon Road proposal is a typical knee jerk reaction to a big problem, when you have no real solution.

“It would just push the problem towards the already polluted Holyhead Road.”

[dutchman]

Coventry's Holyhead Road most polluting in West Midlands, green charity says



THE MOST polluting road in the West Midlands is in Coventry.

A study by environmental charity Friends of the Earth identified Holyhead Road as the region’s worst offender.

The major artery, which connects the ring road around the city centre to Allesley and the A45 to Solihull, came bottom of an audit of the 218 most polluting sites in the West Midlands.

The sites all breach annual Air Quality Objective for Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2) levels, which are set to protect health.

Holyhead Road has annual average of 75.6 micrograms per cubic metre – nearly double the target level of 40.

UK Friends of the Earth is campaigning for Clean Air Zones to be rolled out in the worst affected cities – where polluting vehicles are charged for access to certain areas.

It also says this should be supported by measures such as improved infrastructure to support safe cycling and walking.

But Coventry City Council chiefs – who recently launched their Local Air Quality Action Plan – say a Clean Air Zone is not an option in the city.

It also announced a raft of measures to reduce pollution on Holyhead Road, to divert traffic away from pollution hotspots.

A council report states: “This package will relieve traffic pressures on Holyhead Road, ensuring reduced traffic flows and freer-flowing traffic thereby reducing NO2 levels at the worst pollution hotspot within the city.

“The improvements at Spon End and J7 will facilitate this by increasing the capability of the parallel route to Holyhead Road to accommodate traffic diverting from Holyhead Road."

[dutchman]

The traffic is at a standstill much of the time!

[dutchman]

Almost 1,600 object to controversial road closure plan



Almost 1,600 people have objected to the proposed closure of Coundon Road in Coventry.

Plans to tackle nitrogen dioxide (N02) levels at the worst pollution hotspot in Coventry – Holyhead Road – include the proposed closure of Coundon Road.

Cllr Jim O’Boyle, Cabinet Member for Jobs and Regeneration, has previously said the plan would help encourage the use of trains while reducing N02.

A petition of 1,590 signatures has been collected in the space of a week objecting to the plans.

At full council on Tuesday, councillor Glenn Williams said: “To have nearly 1,600 people sign this petition in less than a week shows the level of concern amongst our residents and businesses.

“We understand the need to improve air quality in our city by there are serious questions around how closing Coundon Road will achieve this.

“It is claimed Holyhead Road has one of the highest levels of pollution in the city but investigations but residents suggest these figures are out of date.

“I do see the merit in closing the level crossing, but there must be a better way of closing that crossing and creating some sort of a tunnel underneath.

“There already is a narrow tunnel there. It must be possible to close that and still have free-flowing traffic.”

In the petition, objectors said: “They have not taken into account the knock on affect that this will cause to local doctors surgeries or homes for the elderly or the affect it will have on the commuters of the Coundon and Radford area.”

The council said a drop-in session with residents was held last Thursday, and further comments can be made to onairquality@coventry.gov.uk.

[Jock Strapp]

Interesting to see how they will achieve this.

Spon End would also see improvements to road capacity and routes for pedestrians and cyclists to reduce congestion.

[Melisandre]

Interesting to see how they will achieve this.

Me to Jock Strap they will just shift the polution else where. Other than that it could be to follow France barr certain vehicles from entering curtain zones on certain days only allowing so many of them in on another day by vehicle registrations.

[rebbonk]

All of which is missing the most basic point. We are over-populated! But nobody will dare tackle that particular elephant in the room, will they?