Bath & North East Somerset Council is applying to the Government for powers to enforce moving traffic offences, such as the violation of yellow box junctions, banned turns and driving in formal cycle lanes to help make roads safer and tackle congestion. Enforceable offences would not however currently include speeding as national legislation does not allow for it.
To secure the powers from the Department for Transport the council must demonstrate why compliance can only be achieved with enforcement rather than an engineering solution and how it would benefit road users. This is why the following locations were chosen for the initial application.
The council is proposing enforcing restrictions with ANPR at the following initial locations:
Charles St/Monmouth Street, Bath - yellow box and banned turn
George Street/Gay Street, Bath –banned turn
Brook Road, Bath – commercial vehicle weight restriction
Newbridge Road/Newbridge Hill, Bath – banned turn
High Street/Bath Hill/Temple Street, Keynsham – banned right turn
Residents have until midday on Monday, 11th April to comment on the proposals and suggest other hot spot locations which should be considered in any future consultation should the council succeed in being awarded enforcement powers.
Councillor Manda Rigby, cabinet member for Transport, said: “While the police currently have powers to enforce moving traffic offences it’s understandably not a priority for them. We want to improve the safety of our roads for everyone and these powers will enable us to do that in hotspots where restrictions are contravened and pose a danger or cause congestion. It’s important to stress this is not about raising revenue, it’s about improving road safety and we need to get the locations right which is why we want to hear from residents. These powers would help improve the safety of our roads for all users. The locations we are proposing are hotspots where road signage is heavily contravened, posing a danger or causing congestion.”
For more information about the proposal and to have your say visit: www.bathnes.gov.uk/movingtrafficrestrictions.
The Council is holding a series of drop-in information events for residents between 10am and 4.30pm on the following dates:
• 24th March, Midsomer Norton One Stop Shop
• 1st April, Bath One Stop Shop
• 8th April, Keynsham One Stop Shop
A public webinar will also be taking place on 4 April at 6.30pm the joining details can be found on the consultation webpage.
The consultation feedback is expected to go before the Council’s cabinet on Thursday, 5th May for a decision on whether to proceed with the application to the Government before the deadline of 20th May. If the application is successful, the designation order confirming the powers will be issued on June 1st, 2022. Again were we to be successful in our application for these powers, we would not have to apply for individual schemes in the future.