Post by Jack on Mar 23, 2011 21:21:19 GMT 1
New £1.5m bus lane 'too narrow' for buses
A new £1.5m bus lane is going unused... because it's not wide enough for buses.
The lane in King's Lynn, Norfolk, was opened by Norfolk County Council earlier this month but has faced criticism because drivers need specialist training to negotiate an extremely narrow corner.
Buses have been forced to slow to walking pace to traverse a challenging pinch point on the route - which runs between Wisbech Road and Boal Street in King's Lynn.
The route was officially opened on 14 March by West Norfolk Mayor Zipha Christopher, but has been branded "unfit for purpose" by locals.
Speaking to Lynn News, Brian Lake, 63, who cycles the route every morning, witnessed the unveiling ceremony.
"It's a farce. It took a driver and someone standing in the footwell to see the driver through the pinch point on the trial run. There are tyre marks on the kerb where it has squeezed through."
He also questioned the need for double yellow lines on the route, which is used only by buses and cyclists.
Ben Colson, managing director of Norfolk Green - the bus company that uses the lane - said rumours staff were refusing to use the lane were "totally untrue", but added: "Fundamentally we haven't had the resource to be able to do the training."
Quentin Brogdale, the project engineer, apologised for the problems and said it was a temporary measure.
He said the lane had to be built this month in case government funding was cut, which meant negotiations to buy a small piece of private land on the side of the lane could not be finished.
He said: "We had expected the area to be tight for buses, however now that they have started to test the route, we have discovered that they are having particular difficulty negotiating the narrow point and some are scraping the kerb.
"This means that we had to delay the opening of the route while we worked with the bus company to find a solution."
uk.cars.yahoo.com/23032011/74/new-1-5m-bus-lane-narrow-buses.html
A new £1.5m bus lane is going unused... because it's not wide enough for buses.
The lane in King's Lynn, Norfolk, was opened by Norfolk County Council earlier this month but has faced criticism because drivers need specialist training to negotiate an extremely narrow corner.
Buses have been forced to slow to walking pace to traverse a challenging pinch point on the route - which runs between Wisbech Road and Boal Street in King's Lynn.
The route was officially opened on 14 March by West Norfolk Mayor Zipha Christopher, but has been branded "unfit for purpose" by locals.
Speaking to Lynn News, Brian Lake, 63, who cycles the route every morning, witnessed the unveiling ceremony.
"It's a farce. It took a driver and someone standing in the footwell to see the driver through the pinch point on the trial run. There are tyre marks on the kerb where it has squeezed through."
He also questioned the need for double yellow lines on the route, which is used only by buses and cyclists.
Ben Colson, managing director of Norfolk Green - the bus company that uses the lane - said rumours staff were refusing to use the lane were "totally untrue", but added: "Fundamentally we haven't had the resource to be able to do the training."
Quentin Brogdale, the project engineer, apologised for the problems and said it was a temporary measure.
He said the lane had to be built this month in case government funding was cut, which meant negotiations to buy a small piece of private land on the side of the lane could not be finished.
He said: "We had expected the area to be tight for buses, however now that they have started to test the route, we have discovered that they are having particular difficulty negotiating the narrow point and some are scraping the kerb.
"This means that we had to delay the opening of the route while we worked with the bus company to find a solution."
uk.cars.yahoo.com/23032011/74/new-1-5m-bus-lane-narrow-buses.html