Four new bus lanes proposed on some of Warrington’s busiest roads

Warrington Borough Council is proposing bus gates – short lengths of road that only buses can use – on Winwick Road and Long Lane.

The first would be on the A50 Long Lane and A49 Winwick Road, on the corner of both outside Warrington and Vale Royal College.

The council says this would allow buses turning left onto the A49 to enter directly into the bus stop outside the college on Winwick Road.

A second is on Winwick Road near to Tesco, with a set of signals and new road proposed to allow buses to gain priority over queuing traffic to get to the bus stop.

Two more are proposed on the A49 Winwick Road and Lythgoes Lane, with the Winwick Road arms of the junction remodelled to form two short lanes for buses, creating a new southbound bus gate and quicker route to Warrington Bus Station.

Warrington residents are being invited to share their views on the plans, with Warrington Borough Council stating they will ‘transform bus travel in the town, with faster, more reliable journeys’.

Councillors say the number of existing lanes for cars would not change, with new carriageways to be built and existing road space remodelled.

How one of the bus lanes would look on the corner of Long Lane and Winwick Road (Image: WBC)

This means that motorists will not lose any lanes of traffic as part of the proposals, and car journey times will remain approximately as they are now, the council says.

Walking and cycling facilities would also be improved by creating and widening segregated walking and cycling paths where possible.

Plans also propose two new toucan (walking and cycling) crossings – one outside Warrington and Vale Royal College on Long Lane and the other on Winwick Road, near Halliwell Jones Stadium.

Construction is expected to start in May next year and be completed by December 2025.

The construction would be phased to minimise disruption as much as possible and keep traffic flowing, while delivering the improvements in a quick and efficient manner.

The project will cost approximately £12.5million to deliver, with £10million provided by the Department of Transport following a successful bid, and the remainder funded by the council.

The council has launched a four-week public consultation on the plans and is seeking feedback from residents, motorists, bus users and business owners.

You can have your say by visiting smartsurvey.co.uk/s/wbcBSIPconsultation/

You can also get visit a public event on November 29 between 4pm and 7.30pm at Warrington and Vale Royal College, December 2 between 10am and 2pm at Golden Square, or December 6 between 3pm and 6pm at Warrington Bus Station. The consultation runs until December 17.