Colchester congestion could be eased by bus lanes

Motorists and bus passengers stuck on roads like Magdalen Street, East Hill and Old Heath Road have been calling for improvements for decades.

Now changes are being promised in a report commissioned by Colchester Council and Essex County Council – the snappily titled East Colchester Rapid Transport Link Feasibility Study.

The report reveals buses using Hythe Hill, Barrack Street and East Hill average speeds of less than 12mph, while cars struggle too.

Paul Wilkinson, transportation policy manager at Colchester Council, said measures would be introduced in the five years from 2012.

He said: “I think it’s well recognised the road network from the east side of Colchester into the centre is obviously heavily congested in peak hours, affecting the operation of buses.

“It’s recognised the best way to start is to improve the existing bus services.”

But Peter Kay, secretary of the Colchester bus users’ group C-Bus, said he had been hearing these pledges for years.

He said: “They’ve been promising us bus priority in Colchester since the beginning of the Nineties, but it’s all waffle so far.

“What real bus users need are things like that in the short term.

“It’s not always easy. You have to be careful to make sure it does not cause traffic tailbacks which affect buses further back.”

The report states in the short term, bus lanes, bus priority at junctions, parking restrictions and bus stop improvements could all help alleviate congestion.

Mr Wilkinson said the changes were responding to calls from residents to improve public transport in the area.

He added: “We will be looking to programme this in the local transport plan period from 2012 onwards.”

The report recommends that in the medium term, perhaps in a decade or so, a £1million, bus-only extension of Recreation Road is built to link up with the Colne Causeway roundabout. The council is taking measures now to protect the land and make sure houses are not built where the link would go.

In years to come, thousands of homes will be built in Colchester and Tendring, including the Hythe Quay area, which are expected to exacerbate the transport problems.

That is why Colchester Council is also trying to safeguard land running alongside the track between Colchester Town and Hythe railway stations.

The report investigated whether the council should try to get more regular trains on the route, replace the train track with a bus lane, or build a bus lane alongside it.

The third idea found favour, which is why Colchester Council is attempting to stop land alongside the track being built on.

Mr Wilkinson said: “We have seen figures in the east of England plan that require growth up to 2031 at similar levels as to what are in the existing plans.

“We’re alive to the fact Tendring will see some more growth and Colchester will see growth, so more people will equal more traffic.

“We would need a flexible system, which buses offer, which can then feature in the transit corridor.”

But Mr Kay, who is also Wivenhoe’s parish transport representative, is scathing about the idea.

He said: “It’s very common all over the country to be promised super duper, pie-in-the-sky things to make them seem as if they’re being wonderfully good, that don’t actually come to anything.

“I don’t think it will ever appear anyway.

“I don’t think it will be found justifiable on cost-benefit grounds, unless there were some really massive housing developments there.

“If they were going to build a new town between Greenstead and Elmstead Market, then maybe, but they’re not.”

Mr Kay said the council should focus more on convincing more commuters in Tendring to take the train by insisting whoever is responsible for improving rail services should offer more and cheaper tickets.

He added: “The answer is to improve the rail services. They have started off with a totally negative attitude to rail services, so inevitably they came up with the thing that’s not the right answer.

“It would cost at least £20million to build that thing alongside the railway. You would get more value on spending £20million on the railway.

“The whole thing is just absurd really.”

He added: All we’re asking for is the incremental improvement of an existing rail service.

“Every other line in East Anglia has already had a doubling of the service in recent years.”

“But in Colchester, there’s negativity.”

Next year a new firm will be appointed to replace National Express East Anglia in running train services in north Essex.

Mr Wilkinson said it had been asked to increase the number of trains running between Colchester and Clacton.

He added: “We would support increased levels of train services. Whether the franchise will provide it or not is not clear.

“I believe the county as well is asking that all stations across Essex should have at least two trains an hour.”

But he added: “If we were to double the number of people using the train going to work, it would only result in a five per cent drop in car use.

“We would still be left with significant traffic, which would affect the operation of buses in and out of east Colchester.”