CALLS have been made to abandon Colchester’s “unlawful and hastily installed cycle lanes”.

Colchester High Steward Sir Bob Russell is calling on Essex County Council to remove bollards from the road at North Station, Headgate from Southway into Head Street and in St John’s Street.

He said: “All three are adding to congestion and are used by very few cyclists. They have been a huge waste of public money.”

In her High Court ruling, Judge Mrs Justice Lang – in reference to a case brought against Transport for London – said the justification for temporary traffic measures was “not evidence based”.

The ruling of what goes for London’s roads paves the way for similar legal action elsewhere in England, Sir Bob said.

He added: “It is quite clear the introduction of the cycle lane near North Station was not evidence based.

“I hope Essex County Council will take the hint from the High Court ruling and remove the temporary traffic measures I have indicated at these three locations."

Gazette:

Boss - ECC's deputy leader Kevin Bentley 

Kevin Bentley, deputy leader of the county council and Cabinet Member for Infrastructure, said: “I’m sure Sir Bob agrees with me that Colchester suffers from terrible traffic congestion, there is only one cause for this and that is vehicles.

“I perfectly understand some people absolutely have to use cars, others don’t, including me, and we need to think more carefully how we travel around for the benefit of all.

“Because previous councillors have failed to act on this and allowed car growth to happen we now have terrible congestion. This we are seeking to change and provide better, cheaper alternatives for people to us and I really hope Sir Bob helps with this to unclog Colchester.”

An Essex Highways spokesman said the purposes of all cycle lanes is to make Colchester a safer, greener and healthier place.

“Cycle lane use encourages more people to move out of cars, which is better for our towns as it leads to less congestion, better for the NHS as people get fitter through active travel and better for the environment as less pollution is released on their daily journey,” he added.