Residents concerned over rerouting of south Lincoln buses

Some Lincoln residents have been left without a public transport service after three Stagecoach bus services were rerouted due to road works.

The 66, 44 and 44a Stagecoach buses, which run along Dixon Street, High Street and Boultham Park Road, have been rerouted down Tritton Road.

This is in order to avoid the road works around Dixon Street, near the Boultham Park Road junction, which are currently delayed.

However, this means there are no buses running along the three roads until work is complete, with only one stop on Tritton Road.

Illustration: Stagecoach

According to Stagecoach, the temporary traffic lights on the Boultham Park Road and Dixon Street junction have been causing long traffic queues delays recently, disrupting the bus timetable.

The queuing on occasions would be so bad, three or four buses would become stuck in the line of traffic, meaning there would be large gaps in the timetable while buses all appeared at once.

A spokesperson for Stagecoach said: “Despite using additional buses and drivers to try and maintain our timetables it is proving simply impossible to alleviate the effect of the delays on our services and this is understandbly resulting in complaints from customers.

“Given the confirmation that the temporary traffic signals are to continue for a further five weeks we have decided that it is in the best interests of the majority of customers using Services 44, 44a and 66 to avoid Dixon Street and Boutlham Park Road altogether until the highway works are completed.

“This decision has not been made lightly because we are aware that people living in the area around the works will have some distance to walk to reach the nearest alternative bus stops, and we are sorry for this inconvenience, but we hope that everyone will understand that the situation is beyond our control.”

Local resident Jean Flannery wrote in a letter to Lincoln MP Karl McCartney: “This change of route impacts on quite a large population. Given the frequency with which these buses run, they are obviously very well used.

“I have heard from quite a few local residents who are really concerned, and some indeed distressed, about this and will find it disruptive and difficult.

“Stagecoach receives a subsidy from the City Council to run this service. They will not be fulfilling their contract if they make this change, which they simply say is due to the delays on the route caused by road works.”

More details on disruptions and the alternate routes can be found on posters on the buses, website or City Bus Station Travel Shop, or call Customer Services 0845 6050605.