Scrapping bus lanes and installing off-road cycle lanes will reduce congestion, say Hull's Lib Dems

Hull Council leader Mike Ross made the pledge following publication of a transport survey which saw one of the biggest responses ever to a council survey.

The vast majority of the 22,000 people who responded (88 per cent) said congestion had got worse in the last two years with 80 per cent blaming roadworks and improvement schemes. Sixty-two per cent thought there were too many cycle lanes.

More than 70 per cent of residents said they felt consulted “poorly” or “very poorly” over the changes.

Some 65 per cent of car drivers, 51 per cent of cyclists, 60 per cent of pedestrians and 53 per cent of public transport users felt the combination of cycle lanes and all-day bus lanes had contributed to increased congestion.

Meanwhile over a quarter of cyclists said they'd had an accident due to the poor condition the lanes were in.

Coun Ross said they'd listened and would act, but the problems couldn't be fixed overnight.

He said: “The view among people who responded to the survey seems to be that bus lanes should return to peak times in one direction (currently all day in both directions).

"As a result, I have already instructed officers to prepare a report detailing options and implications for consideration by Cabinet at the earliest opportunity.”

Coun Ross said they were committed to “making cycling safer” by improving the off-road cycle network. He said: “Much of what the council did in the past was about quantity of on-road cycle lanes. Going forward our focus will be on quality rather than quantity, and about safe, properly segregated off-road cycle lanes as well as action to tackle congestion on our roads.

“The first thing we will do on this front is get out there and clean up the cycle tracks. Issues like cleanliness, and glass on the existing cycle tracks are clearly significant issues for a lot of cyclists and people who want to cycle more."

The on road cycle lanes were installed after the previous Labour administration made a successful bid for up to £1.4m from a £250m emergency active travel fund from the Government during the pandemic.

Former council leader Daren Hale denied it was a waste of money, as the council also secured £5m towards refurbishing the road and pavements of Hessle Road, Holderness Road and part of Anlaby Road.

Part of the deal with the Governement was that consultation had to be done "on the job".

Recent costings to put an off-road cycle lane on Freetown Way was £5m, compared to the "couple of hundred thousand" the current on-road scheme cost . And he said there would be no easing of congestion if bus lanes reverted to peak times in one direction as only five per cent of motorists used them.

He said: "As usual the Lib Dems are promising jam tomorrow. I suspect there will be no changes in anything until after next May's elections when they might be out of power."