MOTORISTS leaving a busy city centre car park could soon be banned from turning right on the Croft Road roundabout under proposals being tabled by county council highways chiefs, the Observer can reveal.
The controversial move was revealed by highways chief Coun Alan Amos in a bid to tackle the congestion sparked by the zebra crossing which links the Hive and the University to the Riverside.
Under the plans being suggested, highways chiefs hope the reduction of traffic would ease congestion on the busy road and enable traffic lights to be installed.
County chiefs want to see the current Croft Road junction closed completely in favour of motorists using the entrance close to the Hive on The Butts and will discuss the proposal with Worcester City Council who own the car park.
“We need to put traffic signals on the crossing and therefore are proposing a no right turn sign coming out of the Cattlemarket car park,” Coun Amos told the Observer.
“If we want to put signals in we need to reduce the traffic using Croft Road because it simply isn’t safe to install a pedestrian crossing at the moment.
Work to tackle the pedestrian crossing outside Asda on Pheasant Street will also take place after Coun Amos branded the current crossing ‘a nightmare’ for pedestrians.
“We will look at the crossing and the whole roundabout area there to get to the right solution,” he said.
“It may be we have to look at all the traffic flow from the island before we make descision about the crossing.”
Worcestershire County Council has pledged £5million over the next 2 years to identify, investigate and deliver solutions to tackle congestion sites across the county.
The work is part of an overall £11.6million package of improvements to tackle congestion on the county’s roads.
A total of £3.4million will be spent improving the junctions on the A44 through the heart of the city from the outskirts through to notorious traffic blackspots like the Sidbury junction.
“Twenty-two per cent of traffic in Worcester is rat runners driving through the city to get to a destination,” Coun Amos said.
“We are looking at ways to discourage them from driving through the city centre and instead go around Worcester to reach their destination.
“People ask me ‘well where will they go?’ I simply don’t care as long as it’s not through Worcester,”
“Like in many places across the country, traffic congestion causes our residents a huge amount of frustration. I am determined to tackle the worst of our hot spots and get Worcestershire moving,” he added.
