July 25, 2011 11.49 am This story is over 151 months old

High Street bus lane scrapped for 18 months

Scrapped: An unused bus lane in the city centre is set to be scrapped temporarily until the East-West link road is built.

An unused bus lane on Lincoln’s High Street will be scrapped by Lincolnshire County Council for the next 18 months.

The Planning and Regulation Committee took the decision to remove the lane, which runs from Tanners Street to around 25 metres north of Firth Road, at a meeting on July 25.

It is hoped the removal of the bus lane will ease traffic congestion down the High Street.

Bus users have been getting off at Portland Street to get to the city centre after Stagecoach changed its daytime routes last year, making the bus lane redundant.

The buses changed routes in order to avoid the rail crossing on the High Street, which can make buses late by up to 20 minutes.

Buses now heading down Portland Street from the High Street take up two lanes when turning, forcing cars heading straight on to enter the bus lane in order to get past.

In a report, Paul Coathup, Assistant Director of Highways and Transportation at the County Council, noted that “the construction of the East-West link road (planned for construction in 2013) will ultimately see the buses returning to the High Street and using the new road with further revised priority measures.”

He ultimately recommended that the County Council remove the bus lane for 18-months.