Birmingham City Council has announced plans for an ambitious supersized Low Traffic Neighbourhood (LTN), spanning the entire area within the inner ring road. The plan would see the city centre split into zones, with roads closed off to traffic, preventing and discouraging short car journeys within it. The traffic restrictions will be combined with significant investment in public transport, pedestrianisation and protected cycleways. A workplace parking levy will be introduced to reduce commuting by car and to help fund the improvements.
The Welsh Government established an independent panel in the summer to review its roads programme. The panel chair was asked to fast track scrutiny of the Llanbedr Access Road and Bypass. She has now reported her findings and recommended that the road be scrapped which the Welsh Government has accepted. A package of alternative measures will now be developed to encourage modal shift, reduce CO2 emissions and reduce the negative impact of traffic on Llanbedr and other villages along the A496. We hope Grant Shapps and the DfT and WYCA are watching and learning.
Source: Transport Action Network
