Bus priority and improvements to walking and cycling facilities are proposed along the A50 Long Lane westbound (towards Junction Nine retail park) and the A49 Winwick Road in a southbound direction (towards the town centre).  The bus priority proposals consist of four short lengths of road that only buses can use (bus gates) which will make bus journeys quicker in this area. The bus gates are proposed in the following locations:

A50 Long Lane/A49 Winwick Road

A bus gate is proposed on the corner of the A50/A49 outside Warrington and Vale Royal College.  This will allow buses turning left onto the A49 to enter directly into the bus stop outside the college on the A49.

A49 Winwick Road (near Tesco)

A set of signals and new road will be installed to allow buses to gain priority over queuing traffic to get to the bus stop.

A49 Winwick Road/Lythgoes Lane

The Winwick Road arms of this junction will be remodelled to form two short lanes for buses to create a new southbound bus gate and quicker route to Warrington Bus Interchange.

The number of existing lanes for cars will not change, new carriageway is to be built and existing road space remodelled.

Walking and cycling facilities will be improved by creating/widening segregated walking and cycling paths where possible and providing two new toucan (pedestrian and cycle) crossings, one outside the College on Long Lane and the other on Winwick Road near the Halliwell Jones stadium.

The proposals will:

• make bus journey times along the A50 Long Lane, Northway and A49 Winwick Road faster and more reliable
• improve access to bus stops and local amenities by sustainable modes
• create a much-improved route for cycling into the town centre
• help to reduce congestion through an increase in bus usage and more walking and cycling as an alternative to the car for some daily trips

The proposals are estimated to cost £12.5 million with the majority of funding (£10m) provided by the Department of Transport through a successful bid for our Bus Service Improvement Plan.  The remaining will be funded by the council.

Motorists will not lose any lanes of traffic as part of the proposals and car journey times are forecast to remain approximately as they are now. 

Journey times are expected to be up to 5 minutes quicker over the next 15 years.  Bus services will also be more reliable, making travel by bus a more viable option for many residents.

The existing facilities are narrow and over-grown in places and do not conform to current design standards.  The enhanced facilities will provide a more pleasant environment for walking and cycling. Increased numbers of people walking and cycling will help to address congestion and support our objectives to improve health and wellbeing and tackle climate change.

Construction is expected to start in May 2024 and end in December 2025.

Construction will be phased to keep the level of disruption to a minimum and keep traffic flowing, whilst at the same time delivering the improvements in a quick and efficient manner.

The A49 will remain open for most of the construction period. On a few occasions there may be the need to close the route fully for re-surfacing, but these will be kept to a minimum and would be done outside of peak hours.

In parts of Warrington taxis are permitted to use bus priority measures, the majority of these locations being longer lengths of bus lane. The council does not have a blanket policy on this and treats every scheme on a case-by-case basis.

The bus gates in this scheme are intended to provide priority to buses over only a short distance to gain an advantage over general traffic. In two cases the gates provide access directly to a bus stop and there would be no benefit for taxis to use the bus priority measures. On the third, the southbound bus gate into Winwick Road, the inclusion of taxis has been considered and ruled out for a number of reasons.

The impact of the additional usage of the gates by taxis would negatively impact on the operation of the junction and increase journey times for general traffic. The inclusion of taxis would also lead to operational, enforcement and road safety problems which could not be overcome. 

The Government published its National Bus Strategy (Bus Back Better) in March 2021.  It required each local authority in England outside of London to develop a Bus Service Improvement Plan (BSIP).

The Council duly produced its first BSIP at the end of October 2021 and then updated it in October 2022.  The BSIP sets out a range of measures to improve all aspects of bus services including:

• provision of additional / higher frequency services,
• reduced fares and better ticketing and
• the need for buses to be given greater priority to speed up their journey times making them more reliable and punctual.

The aim being to generate significant increases in the frequency of services and numbers of passengers using the bus network in Warrington.

In April 2022, the Department for Transport (DfT) awarded the Council £16.2m. £9.9m funding is allocated to the proposals detailed above.  The remaining allocation is being used to enhance and deliver new bus services across the borough and reduce fares for passengers. A national £2 bus fare for a single journey was introduced by Government in January 2023, the Council enhanced this offer by introducing a £1 fare for all under 19s in July 2023 and removed the 9:30am start for concessionary travel on weekdays.