Only buses, taxis, private hire vehicles and bikes will be allowed to travel westbound amid fears it has become a ‘rat run’ for Liverpool city centre motorists. Tony McDonough reports
All traffic apart from buses, taxis and cycles will be banned from entering a major Liverpool city centre road under plans unveiled by the council.
A report to Liverpool City Council’s cabinet is recommending the introduction of a ‘bus gate’ at the top of Ranelagh Street and Hanover Street, close to the Adelphi Hotel. It would mean all general traffic would be banned from entering from Lime Street from 7am to midnight.
Only buses, taxis, private hire vehicles and bikes would be allowed to turn westbound into Ranelagh Street and Hanover Street. All traffic will still be allowed to travel eastbound from the River Mersey end.
The measure would be introduced as an Experimental Traffic Order and would be reviewed after 12 months. According to a survey of traffic the route has been used as a rat-run with a high number of accidents involving pedestrians crossing from Church Street to Bold Street.
The proposed changes will not affect eastbound traffic as Lime Street is to be remodelled between St John’s Lane and Skelhorne Street as part of the £47m Liverpool City Centre Connectivity (LCCC) scheme, which will remove access to traffic.
An additional benefit to the change will enable the city region’s Bus Alliance to consider reinstating bus services, such as the 82 service for south Liverpool, and to support the wider LCCC projects, such as the redesign of The Strand.
To facilitate the bus-gate on Ranelagh/Hanover Street, it is proposed the current locations of the Blue-Badge bay (outside the Lyceum on south side) and taxi-rank (on north side) be swapped to allow blue badge holders to park with the flow of traffic and to ensure ease of access into the main retail area of the city.
Prior to the scheme becoming live, a CCTV system will be installed and tested to ensure that it meets the requirements of the Department for Transport (DfT) and Vehicle Certification Agency (VCA).
To improve traffic flow and bus punctuality along the route further, the priority at the junction of Hanover Street with Gradwell Street will also be changed to give priority to traffic along Hanover Street.
Cllr Sharon Connor, Cabinet Member for Highways, said: “The introduction of this bus-gate will be a hugely welcome improvement to how people travel in and around Liverpool city centre – especially bus users, pedestrians and cyclists.
“Hanover and Ranelagh Street are currently used as a ‘rat run’ and that is simply not an acceptable situation especially when we are encouraging people to walk and cycle more and we are committed to improving our air quality as well.
“The benefits of this measure will be considerable in terms of reducing congestion and improving safety in the heart of our city centre and consultation with our bus partners and public and private taxi sectors has been critical to how it has been designed.”