Park-and-ride fiasco as traffic too heavy for buses to stop

A NEW Yorkshire park-and-ride site has been standing unused for a year because a council ordered it to be built at a location where traffic is too heavy for bus operators to use it.

Barnsley Council asked Tesco to provide the development, including shelters, a new buses-only entrance and space for commuters to leave their cars, as part of a planning agreement which allowed the supermarket giant to extend its Wombwell Lane store.

But even before the facilities were built the council knew about forecast traffic levels, which would make it too difficult for a bus operator to incorporate the park-and-ride stop into their routes.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Despite that and fierce objections from those living in the area, it went ahead.

When tests were conducted after the work was complete, the impact on bus journey times was less severe than experts had predicted but even then delays were still too great for Stagecoach to incorporate the park-and-ride into its services as Barnsley Council had intended.

Now the authority's engineers are looking at how they can help buses travel faster in the area, to create the time for them to incorporate Tesco into their timetables. But a senior official has conceded that obvious solutions such as widening roads and altering bridges to remove "pinch points" are too expensive to be a realistic prospect.

Council transport spokesman Paul Fell told the Yorkshire Post: "It is not an ideal situation."

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Under current planning rules, local authorities can negotiate with developers to provide facilities to benefit the wider community as part of applications for major schemes.

Barnsley Council has not explained why it pressed ahead with the park-and-ride plan when the severity of its impact on bus journey times was already known.

Coun Fred Clowery, who represents the area, said he had opposed the proposals since they were first announced.

"I am appalled by this and have been since day one. I never had any confidence in this scheme," he said.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

"There is a lot to be said for park and ride, but only in the right place.

"What you have here is a large car park which is standing empty. They get these ideas in their heads and, irrespective of alternative suggestions, they just press ahead."

Mr Fell said that, under the planning agreement, the park-and-ride facilities were built by Tesco and remain the company's property but the site was to be maintained by the retailer and made available for public use.

Traffic volumes in the area had actually fallen recently, but when test runs were carried out the impact of stopping for park-and-ride passengers meant all the "spare" time added into bus timetables to account for delays was immediately absorbed. That could have meant Stagecoach needing to add more buses to maintain a punctual service.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

"It is not a cheap thing. They are a commercial organisation," Mr Fell said.

Talks are continuing between the council, Stagecoach and South Yorkshire Passenger Transport Executive (PTE), the body responsible for overseeing the county's public transport network.

"We are anxious to see it brought into use. We are in active discussions with Stagecoach and the PTE but it is a slow process," he added.

Transport funding in South Yorkshire had already been cut by 30 per cent, with deep uncertainty about future cash allocations, he said.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

"We don't even know what money we will get next year or even if we will get any," he said.

The executive's long-term aim is to have a network of park-and-ride sites across the county, with two located in Barnsley, Mr Fell added.

It was anticipated that priority would be given to other areas first and the decision to go ahead with the Tesco site had been on the back of an "opportunity" resulting from a planning application, he added.

A spokesman for Tesco said: "We have gladly fulfilled our obligations to the council.

"The operation of the park and ride is a matter for the local authority."