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Bradford city centre traffic restrictions being flouted

11:47am Monday 28th June 2010 in


Drivers are flouting new road restrictions banning private vehicles from a city centre street, the Telegraph & Argus can reveal.

Now a prominent councillor has warned drivers to start paying attention to the new traffic signs in Market Street, Bradford, or face the penalties.

New signs have appeared at both ends of Market Street informing motorists that the road is now for buses, taxis and bicycles only.

Councillor Ghazanfer Khaliq, Bradford Council’s executive member for environment and sustainability, said the Council would take steps to stop people contravening the regulations.

He said: “My view is that these motorists need to start taking it seriously. If this problem continues we need to look at some sort of enforcement action.

“There are good reasons these restrictions have been introduced and people must abide by them.”

Coun Khaliq said it could be the case that some motorists had been in the habit of driving along Market Street for decades and only realised too late that there had been a change to the traffic regulations.

But he said: “They need to take notice of the new signs.”

CCTV could be used to catch out motorists ignoring the rules which are designed to keep buses running freely.

A Council spokesman said: “In the past we have carried out enforcement action along with police and Metro on Market Street aimed at the drivers that abuse the bus lane there. We will be looking to carry out more enforcement action using the police in the near future.”

The problem in Market Street has emerged a month after the Telegraph & Argus highlighted a similar issue in another part of Bradford.

In late May, it became clear that many motorists were ignoring a one-way system introduced to prevent motorists rat-running through Little Germany. In half an hour, 20 motorists were seen contravening ‘no entry’ signs on a stretch of Peckover Street.

Comments(17)

yorkshiremags says...
12:19pm Mon 28 Jun 10

A few tickets then drivers will be back to normal, ignoring the road signs. I catch my bus on there and see it regularly.

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stansfairy says...
12:23pm Mon 28 Jun 10

another way for the council to do people out of money . next we will see extortionate parking meters and parking areas crop up. its hard enough to park anywhere nearby as it is without making it even harder by turning a perfectly normal throughfare into a bus/taxi/cycle only area !

they are supposed to encourage people to come into bradford city centre not scare them away....id rather go to the whiterose or meadowhall instead , the time im gonna spend looking for parking in bradford i could make the journey to whiterose or meadowhall !

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Joedavid says...
12:25pm Mon 28 Jun 10

Going on for years in Market Street with no enforcement.
Doubt it will start now, and where have these Councillors been to have not seen it.
Guess they not seen the mess the whole City center is in as well.

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albion says...
12:49pm Mon 28 Jun 10

Much the same as the centre of Shipley.

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Andraste says...
2:29pm Mon 28 Jun 10

stansfairy wrote:
another way for the council to do people out of money . next we will see extortionate parking meters and parking areas crop up. its hard enough to park anywhere nearby as it is without making it even harder by turning a perfectly normal throughfare into a bus/taxi/cycle only area !

they are supposed to encourage people to come into bradford city centre not scare them away....id rather go to the whiterose or meadowhall instead , the time im gonna spend looking for parking in bradford i could make the journey to whiterose or meadowhall !
Obey the signs and there'll be no fines.
.
How simple can it be ?

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Freddy Elliot says...
2:29pm Mon 28 Jun 10

Drivers are flouting the traffic signs in Bradford? Well I don't Adam and Eve it.

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Andraste says...
2:32pm Mon 28 Jun 10

Freddy Elliot wrote:
Drivers are flouting the traffic signs in Bradford? Well I don't Adam and Eve it.
A great chance to make some money for the area (via the fines).
.
Again, if the drivers obeyed the signs, they wouldn't need to pay.

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yezboss says...
3:14pm Mon 28 Jun 10

stansfairy wrote:
another way for the council to do people out of money . next we will see extortionate parking meters and parking areas crop up. its hard enough to park anywhere nearby as it is without making it even harder by turning a perfectly normal throughfare into a bus/taxi/cycle only area !

they are supposed to encourage people to come into bradford city centre not scare them away....id rather go to the whiterose or meadowhall instead , the time im gonna spend looking for parking in bradford i could make the journey to whiterose or meadowhall !
And you will be to visit some REAL shops!!!

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Avro says...
3:17pm Mon 28 Jun 10

Its only those who have no regard for law who do this sort of thing, hence which the standard of driving across the city is beyond belief and can be pinpointed to certain areas!

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MarkPullen says...
3:35pm Mon 28 Jun 10

I wouldn't worry about indicating that taxis can use these routes - they can drive anywhere they want surely?!?!?

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mad matt says...
4:24pm Mon 28 Jun 10

MarkPullen wrote:
I wouldn't worry about indicating that taxis can use these routes - they can drive anywhere they want surely?!?!?
Including wrong way on one way streets!

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MikeBD says...
5:41pm Mon 28 Jun 10

Looks like Mr. Khalique is unable to find the needs of the public. Just like other employee of the council they know how to restrict access but always fail to find the solution in public favor.

Only people they are hurting are the people who lives and go to Bradford City Centre. No others dare come to Bradford Ghost Town. Most of these officials fill their pockets with money by imposing stupid rules and do nothing for the benefits of public. I just want to know what is their Criteria of HIRING people in Bradford Council. dO THEY HAVE TO LACK COMMON SENSE.

"DONT THEY GET PAID ENOUGH TO DO THE WORK" OR THEY JUST DONT WANT TO USE THEIR BRAIN TO MAKE INTELLIGENT DECISIONS.

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Al Spade says...
7:47pm Mon 28 Jun 10

"Drivers are flouting new road restrictions banning private vehicles from a city centre street."

There is nothing new here. For years car have been forbidden to enter Market Street from Cheapside, but chose to ignore the signs. The opposite direction from the City Hall end has been a bus lane for years. The only turn allowed was from Charles Street, going right towards City Hall, and this has now been stopped.

The motorists doing this know there is very little chance of being caught. When did anyone last see some enforcement on Market Street? It's not all that long ago that I saw a police car illegally using Market Street, with three cars in front of and three cars behind him. He took no action. I wonder why?

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Writer says...
7:52pm Mon 28 Jun 10

A CCTV camera would pay for itself overnight. I manage to avoid driving on Market Street so everybody else should. Every weekday I see 4 wheel drives parking to use the ATMs plus loads of normal cars. The police monitor it about once a year if we are lucky. If people obeyed the rules then all would be well.

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yangy8 says...
8:53pm Mon 28 Jun 10

why would you be driving in bradford city centre anyway?
unless its to get somewhere else?
what a **** hole!!!

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Steve30d says...
10:19pm Mon 28 Jun 10

OK but that's NOT what we were shown on the plans! My understanding was that Market street was open, one way, until the right turn for Bank street, which you're then supposed to go down.

Suppose the attitude is nobody is supposed to be driving anywhere near the center of town. So why the MUCH improved disabled bays which allow my disabled partner to stand a chance of actually using the bank, and the shops down that part of town?

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finemess says...
5:27pm Tue 29 Jun 10

To everybody who is calling for enforcement may I suggest you consider that if it wasn't for people like me who deliberatley flout these ridiculous laws then the conjestion in other areas of the city centre would be far worse.
Don't cut off your nose to spite your face!

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