11:47am Monday 28th June 2010
By Will Kilner
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.
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