Traffic could be banned from town centres in Essex.
Essex County Council is drawing up a community strategy and the first draft is expected in April.
One of the proposals put forward by the county council is creating clear zones in town centres.
Could Colchester town centre become a clear zone?
These would be traffic-free areas in the town centres of major towns, including Colchester and Maldon.
The idea is they would make the town centres a more pleasant place to spend time and encourage people to walk, cycle or use public transport.
But Chris Arnold, Colchester Council's transport portfolio holder, does not believe Colchester town centre could be entirely traffic free.
He said: "There's a lot of people going through the town centre without stopping there and I'm very much in favour of stopping that - which is why the future of Cowdray Avenue is important.
"But there are buses, disabled drivers and there are a lot of shops that have no other access for loading stock. So I don't see the town centre ever being traffic free."
Mr Arnold added Colchester town centre already has 26 acres of pedestrianised shopping areas, which include Lion Walk, the Culver Centre, St John's Street, Long Wyre Street and others.
Other proposals in the community strategy include home zones, where traffic speed is limited to 20mph in a bid to make sure only those who live there or are visiting use those roads.
Published Friday, February 7, 2003
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