Sheffield red lines: Labour confirm their opposition to Abbeydale and Ecclesall Roads scheme

Councillor Mazher Iqbal, Sheffield City Council transport committee co-chair, confirmed on BBC Radio Sheffield what he told the Sheffield local democracy reporter service yesterday, March 1.

Yesterday he said that he had taken the red line zone proposals ‘off the table’ after meeting with businesses who were worried about the bus priority plan. The proposals included 12-hour bus lanes operating from 7am to 7pm.

Resulting parking restrictions would have been monitored by traffic cameras, worrying businesses that their trade would be decimated if customers were not able to park on the roads.

Coun Iqbal confirmed on Radio Sheffield that the red route bus lanes on Abbeydale Road and Ecclesall Road do not have Labour’s support to go ahead at this present time.

He also confirmed that Labour councillors do not want to see any changes to the current parking arrangements and no increases to the restriction time.

Final decision

The issue will go to the council’s transport, regeneration and climate change policy committee on March 16, with a final decision expected in the summer.

LibDem councillors have also come out against the red line zone plan. LibDem Ecclesall ward councillor Barbara Masters and group spokesman on the transport committee, Coun Andy Sangar, gave their own assurances at the meetings with businesses this week.

Council leader Terry Fox said: “The reason we are doing this is quite simple – private operators have significantly cut back our bus networks since these red route schemes were being devised 18 months ago.

“We have worked hard to protect our buses: putting millions of pounds into Connecting Sheffield upgrades and travel infrastructure, and the South Yorkshire Mayor has introduced measures like a £2 fare cap.

“But this has not been enough. South Yorkshire was the largest region to miss out on Bus Back Better money last year, receiving no support from the Government. Support is funnelled directly to bus companies and even then it is drip-fed for three months at a time and only renewed at the last minute – removing any ability to plan or recruit staff.

“As a result, we already lost 15% of our bus network last October. Without radical intervention from national government, we now face another, more severe, cliff edge this summer.

Local concerns

“We believe in bus lane segregation. Look at London – it works really well there. The issue we have locally, however, is that implementing them in the current climate is not right.

“There are many understandable local concerns, from residents and business, and we must listen to these. We have already paused the red route plans, and Labour councillors are today confirming we will not support them going ahead.

“We don’t support increasing the bus lanes for 12 hours and we do not want to see any changes to current parking arrangements.

“However, we will of course keep this under consideration until such a time when a citywide public transport offer is fit for purpose.

“I will continue to work closely with South Yorkshire Mayor Oliver Coppard as he takes action to fix our transport system, most clearly by accelerating the bus franchising assessment process to as fast as the law will allow”.

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