Bus shortcut used by 3,500 vehicles a day (From Daily Echo)

Bus shortcut used by 3,500 vehicles a day

1:52pm Tuesday 30th October 2012 in News

Bus shortcut used by 3,500 vehicles a day

A THREE week survey has revealed how up to 3,500 vehicles a day used a shortcut which is normally opened only for buses.

The link between Yew Tree Drive and Botley Road in Whiteley is usually blocked with mechanical bollards preventing motorists passing through.

But it was opened to all traffic earlier this summer for 17 days during a three week programme of National Grid works.

Fareham Borough Council discovered that thousands were using the cut-through every day when they undertook a traffic survey.

The authority has said in the past that the bollards would only be permanently brought down once Whiteley Way is finished - a proposed link to the A3051.

A date has yet to be set for completion of this project. But the public are now being asked for their views on what traffic measures they would like to see rolled out in the event that the link was opened.

Options include, traffic calming, pedestrian crossings, a ban on HGVs and 20mph speed limits.

Council leader Sean Woodward said “Ultimately the decision on whether the link should be opened prematurely and permanently is one for Fareham Borough Council as the local planning authority and Hampshire County Council as the highway authority.

“That decision would be informed by actual data and predictions around the likely effects of the opening of the new Whiteley Shopping Centre, which was recently permitted by Winchester City Council, next summer.”