New North Road Bus Gate

Project Update

The consultation is now closed, thank you to everyone who responded.

The full consultation report can be found here: Consultation Report

Following the consultation, the scheme was approved at October 2023 Devon County Council Cabinet (Item 400). The cabinet report can be found here: Cabinet Report 

The scheme was constructed between 24 June 2024 and 26 July 2024.

The bus lane opened to buses on 28 July 2024 and is now operational.

Background

In March 2021, the government announced a new National Bus Strategy Bus back better to help deliver improvements to bus services. In line with the ambitions of this new strategy, Devon County Council set out their vision for delivering improvements to bus services across the county in the Bus Service Improvement Plan (BSIP).

Among the schemes identified, was the delivery of a bus gate on New North Road to provide a more direct route to the city centre for buses travelling along the 4 km long northern corridor from Cowley Bridge roundabout to Exeter Bus Station in addition to other services that use New North Road.

Bus gates are sections of the highway which allow the passage of buses and prohibit vehicular traffic (except for buses, emergency vehicles, cycles and certain other exempt classes of vehicle).

There are approximately 199 buses a day across 14 services approaching the city from the north and east of Exeter following the existing route. Currently these buses need to travel along Longbrook Street and York Road to reach the bus station instead of being able to travel along Sidwell Street, adding approximately 500m to the route. The proposed bus gate will therefore create a more direct and satisfying route for passengers travelling to the city centre and beyond. Passengers will gain a bus journey time saving of approximately 2.5 minutes between New North Road and Cheeke Street when travelling to Exeter Bus Station.

See scheme plans below or click here for a larger image.

With the existing route passing residential properties as well as a primary school, reducing the volume of services travelling along Longbrook Street and York Road would benefit the residents and also improve air quality past the primary school. In addition the diversion of buses will help reduce other negative impacts of large vehicle traffic such as noise, ground vibration and disruption on tight corners including the junction between Longbrook Street and York Road. Further benefits would be noticeable for the bus passengers as the new route could allow passengers to disembark on Sidwell street (closer to the city centre) where a large proportion of passengers along this route would be heading.

The proposals

The bus gate will be situated on the one-way section of New North Road between Longbrook Street and Sidwell Street outside John Lewis.

Click here for a comparison between existing and proposed scheme.

Click here for a comparison between existing and proposed scheme.

The proposal will involve widening the existing contraflow cycle lane into a contraflow bus lane accessible to buses and cycles only. This will be facilitated by narrowing the existing northbound traffic lane. New asphalt surfacing with block effect imprinting will differentiate the new bus lane from the existing traffic lane. To accommodate the height of double-decker buses, the trees on the east side of the road will be pruned to raise the tree canopy. Appropriate regulatory signing will be positioned at each end of the bus lane.

See scheme plans below or click here for a larger image.

Consultation

A public consultation took place between Monday 17th of July 2023 and Monday 14th of August  2023 to gather opinions on the proposed changes to this section of New North Road.

It was possible to complete the online questionnaire to provide what you think about the proposal until Monday 14th of August.

Alternatively, it was possible to request a paper copy of the consultation survey leaflet / and or the survey, by:

• email us at transportplanning@devon.gov.uk,
• write to us at Transport Planning, Devon County Council, County Hall, Topsham Road, Exeter, EX2 4QD,
• Or request a form by calling customer services at 0345 155 1004.

What happens next?

The consultation is now closed. The feedback and consultation responses will be reviewed, after which a decision on the scheme will be made at the Exeter Cabinet committee. If the proposals are approved, the target will be to deliver the scheme by March 2024.

Accessibility

We take accessibility seriously and recognise that some of the information presented in the files available on this page may not be fully accessible to someone using assistive technology such as a screen reader.

If you need guidance or an alternative format, email transportplanning@devon.gov.uk with details of any preferred format and the assistive technology you use.