THE Gazette report about creating a bus corridor alongside the Northern Approach Road as far as within sight of the railway bridge at North Station exposed the lack of joined-up thinking within Essex Highways (based at Chelmsford) where there are those promoting better provision for buses, but another lot making things worse for bus travellers (Gazette, August 11, “‘New bus lane will devalue our homes’”).

Colchester is the only place I am aware of in the country where buses are banned from a purpose-built bus lane, constructed about six years ago at a cost of around £1million.

Buses are no longer allowed to use the bus lane (running from north to south under the railway bridge towards the town centre) which has been converted to a cycle lane, but which is shunned by many cyclists, with an average of only one cyclist every three minutes using it (18 an hour) while the displaced buses have added to the already congested roads around North Station.

Indeed, survey figures show that the number of cyclists using this former bus lane have halved in the past year.

Land for the bus corridor alongside the Northern Approach Road was allocated the best part of 20 years ago, so it has been a long wait.

READ MORE:

Letter: 'I can’t make any sense of these ten-lane A12 proposals'

'A lack of feminism is damaging to not only young girls, but also young boys'

It's the end of an era as these nursery school children sign off in style

The report states that the corridor will terminate at Bruff Close, the name given for the severed foot of the former Turner Road where it joins Mile End Road.

Not mentioned is that from this point all the “rapid transit” buses will have to compete with all other road traffic as far as the Essex Hall Roundabout.

Everyone knows the area around the railway bridge is congested, which is why a special bus lane was created in order that buses could by-pass the congested road under the bridge and get to the Essex Hall roundabout.

If all the guff about “modal shift” and other flowery phrasing is to mean anything about helping public transport, then in the immortal words of Basil Fawlty “the bleedin’ obvious” is that the very expensive and relatively new bus lane under the railway bridge towards the Essex Hall roundabout should be restored to the purpose for which it was built. For buses. Simple. Obvious.

Sir Bob Russell

Catchpool Road, Colchester