PLANS for a one-way traffic system to beat the jams which plague Bradford on Avon could be trialled in a bid to solve the problem.

Cllr Mike Roberts is pushing for a three-month trial to test whether a one-way system should be adopted.

He is hoping it will solve the town’s chronic congestion problems, improve air quality and pedestrian safety, and ease the flow of through traffic.

“We need to trial it for at least three months in order to obtain accurate data and to monitor the results,” he said.

A survey in 2016, commissioned by the town’s MP Michelle Donelan, showed 90 per cent of residents believe congestion is a major problem and 75 per cent are in favour of trialling a one-way system.

She said: “When I speak with businesses, residents or visitors to Bradford, the number one issue raised is, almost always, traffic.”

One of the options being considered is to install a clockwise system, making Market Street and Masons Lane one-way only going uphill, amid fears an anti-clockwise system might cause traffic conflicts at major and minor road junctions.

The idea is to make the roads one-way through Market Street as far as the Castle Inn roundabout. This would also allow some on-street parking in Masons Lane, which could be used by shoppers visiting the town centre.

New Road down to Springfield and the Holt Road junction would stay two-way, to allow vehicles to reach the north of the town without entering the centre. The road from the new Kingston Farm estate roundabout down through Silver Street would also become one-way, heading into the town centre.

Cllr Roberts has already spoken to Ms Donelan and Wiltshire Council leader Baroness Jane Scott about the potential for introducing a trial system.

Further traffic data and a sophisticated computer simulation modelling traffic flows would be required before a trial can take place.

But some councillors believe that introducing a one-way system could simply move traffic bottlenecks to other areas of Bradford on Avon and create further issues.

Cllr Dom Newton, the leader of Bradford Town Council and chairman of its highways and transport committee, said he wants to see more traffic research data before the full council decides whether to introduce a one-way system.

“I’m not sure we are in a position to go there yet. I think it makes sense to obtain more data and to only go ahead once we have a clear understanding about what that data means.”