The two proposed schemes affect different parts of the city and different types of vehicles. The Government says they are needed because levels of nitrogen oxide (NO2) detected in the air in the vicinity exceed statutory limits.
Here is a run down of what each will involve and how they will impact motorists:
Bus Gate
The proposals on Basford Bank involve a bus gate at the bottom of the A53 Etruria Road, by the A500 roundabout.
It will affect westbound traffic wanting to travel up the bank towards Newcastle and be in operation between 7am and 10am and 4pm until 7pm Monday to Friday.
ANPR cameras will be installed to catch motorists who do not comply with the new rules.
Exemptions will be for all buses and coaches, pedal cycles, taxis, ultra-low/zero emissions vehicles and emergency service vehicles operating under blue light.
Traffic management measures will be set up on diversionary routes.
The target date for the launch is in the next two years, with the scheme expected to be removed once “natural compliance” is evidenced.
Clean Air Zone
The proposed Class C Clean Air Zone (CAZ) will target older vans and commercial vehicles that do not meet emissions standards.
A CAZ suggests a daily charge for diesel vehicles older than September 2015 or petrol vehicles older than 2006 driving in the area.
In Stoke-on-Trent, it will cover the whole of the city centre, down through Joiners Square and Victoria Road in Fenton.
Daily charges will apply all day, every day for affected vehicles driving into and within the zone.
Proposed daily charges for older vehicles are £5 for buses, coaches and taxis, £9 for vans and £35 for lorries.
No private cars will be charged, irrespective of age.
A Clean Air Fund will be set up to help with costs such as fleet upgrades to mitigate negative impacts on local businesses.
The CAZ is expected to go live by the start of 2025 and, like the bus gate, be removed in the future once pollution levels have reduced to meet required standards.
The reasons why Staffordshire has deteriorated to its present level are manyfold.
However, management has never been fit for purpose through these decades.
Neighboring Counties such as Greater Manchester continue to thrive attracting top-class Investment / Investors and bringing with them, dynamic professional people.
Thank God the Coates family have removed loyal to their roots.
I am exhausted by the bureaucracy, tick box exercises, planning and environmental regulations which serve to kill productivity and growth and act as an economic terminal cancer. Only improvements in productivity will grow national prosperity. Despite today’s economic climate, growth now appears to be a dirty word amongst the Net Zero-obsessed political and media establishment.
As a local girl born and bred in Hanley, I am in the process of establishing a business on Basford Bank – a mini spa, restaurant, skin and laser clinic, and beauty salon which would be highly dependent on passing trade and footfall. This will bring much needed employment to the area. Over the past three years I have already had many obstacles in progressing to this point.
Now I am being told that passing trade is potentially being stopped (and more fines introduced) in favour of ‘clean’ air. The irony is that in addition to the emergency service vehicles, the vehicles that are ‘exempt’ are the most polluting of them all – buses, coaches and taxis which are constantly stop and starting. Can a sensible, forward-thinking approach be adopted, utilising the ‘conversion fund’ to electrify the buses and reduce particulate emissions. This would be a more favourable approach instead of destroying local businesses and causing chaos for residents. The positives simply do not outweigh the negatives.
I eagerly await the results of the Bus Gate review which will have a direct impact on this and all other neighbouring businesses.
Well said! I couldn’t have put it better myself.
Have impact assessments been done to find out where the traffic (and consequent pollution) will be displaced to?
These were my thoughts too Anne. This scheme will only place the problem elsewhere. The new link road surely will have helped ease some of the congestion.
Can a sensible, forward-thinking approach be adopted, utilising the ‘conversion fund’ to electrify the buses and reduce particulate emissions. Agreed, particularly were the buses to be returned to public ownership first and fares reduced so the public benefit from the public investment. Profits from running the bus network could then be reinvested to benefit the area.
I live in Gladstone Street which is a nightmare for traffic and parking as we have the doctors and KPI which don’t have enough parking so they park in the street and when there is a queue up to the lights drivers coming down drive all the way down the footpath and then drive through the no entry sign to get into Ford Street.If the bus gate is implemented where is all the traffic going to go, probably up Gladstone Street which will just move the emission problem as cause huge traffic congestion.
My understanding is that the real problem area is between Victoria Street and Basford Park Road, so rather than using a sledgehammer to crack a nut, and effectively closing a major trunk route one way at the busiest times, why not adopt a much simpler, cheaper and easier to implement solution. Install “No Right Turn” signals/signs at the end of Basford Park Road and Victoria Street, put the camera on the No Entry into Ford Street and make Sackville Street one way with entry from the A53 only. Close off the end of The Avenue (like Lower Oxford Road) and hey presto, the job is done. A lot less cost, no obstructions on the main through route, and you’ve moved the problem elsewhere, which presumably was the intention anyway!
These were my thoughts too Anne. This scheme will only place the problem elsewhere. The new link road surely will have helped ease some of the congestion.