MORE than half of the traffic on Bradford on Avon’s roads is through traffic, not local, a new report has confirmed.

A Key Evidence Review Board (KERB), headed by Cllr Simon McNeill-Ritchie, has brought together several groups from across the town. Its report is now the subject of a public consultation exercise which is running until February.

Its aim is to help the town council and residents gain a fuller understanding of transport issues, and provide Wiltshire Council with a strong level of consensus on the outcomes the town wants to achieve.

Cllr McNeill-Ritchie said: “It shows that pedestrian safety is a problem in many hotspots with regular near misses, and that Masons Lane has a chronic air quality problem, one of the worst in Wiltshire.

“The proposed Clean Air Zone in Bath may send more polluting vehicles through the town as drivers try to avoid the CAZ charges.

“Bradford is at the heart of a road network that serves a much wider area and online road maps encourage through traffic. Experience shows that simply improving traffic flow would draw in more traffic from the surrounding area.

He added: “Bradford on Avon relies on a road system laid down in its pre-industrial past, focussed on the town bridge – this means that our traffic problem goes through the economic and social heart of the town.

“Understanding the balance that has to be struck between getting through or into town quickly, parking, and a pleasant and safe environment in the centre and surrounding roads is key to finding solutions.

“Since the vote on the Historic Core Zone, Wiltshire Council have given the town a clear message – to tell them the outcomes we want to achieve and they will work out the solutions to help us achieve them.

“What the KERB consultation does not focus on is specific ‘solutions’, as any individual measure, whether a one-way system, bypass, underground carpark or pedestrian zoning, is likely, on its own, to make other parts of our problem worse.

“The aim of the consultation is to confirm the issues that are most important to the town, as this will shape the solutions that Wiltshire’s Highways team come up with.”

These could include improving vehicle journey speed across the town; improving pedestrian safety in known ‘hotspots’ like the Town Bridge, Market Street and on crossing points; improving air quality, and reducing congestion.

Public consultation drop in sessions will take place on Thursday, January 31, from 7-8.30pm at the Youth and Community Centre, Kennet Gardens, and on Friday, February 1 from 2-4.30pm at St Margaret’s Hall.

To see the report go to www.bradfordonavontowncouncil.gov.uk/2019/01/a-town-that-works-public-consultation-on-boa-transport/