A Salford man has set up a Facebook campaign group asking Salford City Council for the decision to be ‘called in’ on the bus lane proposal for the A666 Bolton Road.
Paul Brighouse created the group: ‘Stop The A666 Bus Lane Madness’, in it is a letter addressed to Councillor Sharpe stating 11 reasons why he is against it.
The Council propose to turn part of the A666 Bolton Road into approximately a two mile bus lane from the M60 motorway junction near Clifton down to near the roundabout at Irlams o’ th’ Height.
Mr. Brighouse said it: “Will cause chaos for everybody that lives on that two mile stretch.”
This route is for commuters who use the road which connects Bolton with the city and is supposed to save them a total of three minutes travelling time.
A total of four buses use the route. Mr. Brighouse says: “But in essence, only one bus uses the whole route from Bolton to Manchester, the other three use it for a couple of hundred yards and then disappear.
What they’re saying is; if you’re travelling by bus from Bolton, you’ll save three minutes on your journey…if you’re a car driver, you’ll save two minutes on your journey. So to get somebody out of a car from Bolton and onto a bus, you’ll save them one minute.”
Mr. Brighouse is a governor at St. John’s School, near the site, and is also concerned for the health of local children: “The cars sat here with their engines on are pumping out emissions.”
Mr. Brighouse believes that a simple adjustment to some of the road markings in the area would be more cost effective and would ease the flow of traffic much more effectively than the current road markings do.
Councillor Derek Antrobus said about the bus lane proposal that it is: “part of the solution that buses can run as far as possible without delay. ”
He also added: “It’s not about saving three minutes in time, it’s about improving reliability of bus services.” And that there: “are a number of other things to be looked at. This is just a small contribution.”
Local Green Party candidate, Bryan Blears, who is concerned about the potential knock-on effects of the bus lane proposal said: “There’s Spider Park here where local children go to play. It’s next to the East Lancs and Bolton Road where all the traffic will become compounded with these plans.
“The health consequences are really worrying if you look at respiratory illnesses across Salford, all this stuff contributes to it.”
It is unclear yet as to when the proposed bus lane will go ahead and how much it will cost.
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