Green vision for a quicker, cleaner city revealed - The Worcester Observer

Green vision for a quicker, cleaner city revealed

Worcester Editorial 14th Feb, 2017   0

A CONGESTION-busting plan has been launched by Worcester’s Green Party in a bid to tackle the delays and hold-ups faced by frustrated city motorists.

The Observer can exclusively reveal details of the party’s ‘vision for the future of transport in Worcester’, an 11 page document which sets out how to reduce the number of cars on the city’s roads, cut air pollution and encourage more residents to use public transport.

Among the proposals in the ambitious transport blueprint is a bid to extend the Worcester orbital road to connect Bromyard Road to Hallow Road.

Worcester’s congestion-filled city centre will see all traffic from south to north use the spine road passing from Sidbury along Deansway and on to Castle Street.




Calls have also been made for more car park direction signs to be fitted to prevent more motorists from driving around trying to find places to park and increasing air pollution.

The document also sets out ways of making the city safer for pedestrians, cyclists and motorists.


A 20mph speed limit would be enforced in all residential areas to make side roads safer and encourage cars to stay on the main roads.

All city centre residential areas would also become residents-only parking zones.

Non-residents would be restricted to park for just one hour to encourage more motorists to use car parks and bus services.

To tackle school pick-up and drop-off congestion in the city, the plan includes working with schools to create more walking buses to get more youngsters to walk to and from school, reducing the number of cars on the roads.

The plan also includes details of how to get more residents cycling around the city by creating a new cycle path between Wylds Lane and County Hall, via Perry Wood.

Charging points for electric bikes would also be installed in the city centre and in car parks.

And a ‘Boris bike’ style scheme, similar to the one introduced by the former Mayor of London would also be launched at train and bus stations in the city.

The transport vision also proposes bringing back the park-and-ride and Perdiswell and reversing cuts to local bus services to encourage motorists to ditch their cars and use public transport to get round the city instead.

And to speed up bus travel times, express bus lanes would be installed so residents can get to their destination quicker.

Worcester Green Party hope the vision will become a reality over the next five to 10 years by bringing all political parties on Worcestershire County Council and the City Council together.

Party chiefs hope the document will spur councillors to set up a cross-party working group to agree a strategy to tackle city centre congestion.

Funding for the ambitious proposals would come from the County Council’s £5million pot of cash for tackling congestion hotspots.

Jane Moorhouse, the Greens transport spokesperson told the Observer: “We’ve become so used to traffic-choked streets that it takes imagination to see that things could be different.

“We believe that increased investment in walking, cycling and public transport will take some cars off the road and so allow more space for those that need to use a car,” she added.

Visit www.worcestergreenparty.org.uk to read the document and e-mail [email protected] to air your views on the proposals.

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