Introduction
Devon County Council have been allocated central government funding to improve bus services in the county. The Exeter schemes include enhancements to the Central Bus Corridor (between Paris Street Roundabout and Middlemoor Roundabout, predominantly along Honiton Road and Heavitree Road), accommodating up to 30 buses an hour in each direction from Monday to Saturday.
The Eastern Bus Corridor running between Sidwell Street and Pinhoe Sainsburys (predominately along Pinhoe Road) supports up to 9 buses an hour in each direction from Monday to Saturday.
Over 800,000 passengers use these corridors annually, travelling to/from the city centre and key employment destinations. Effective bus corridors, which improved speed and reliability of buses, will particularly benefit the elderly, disabled and young people who may rely more on public transport than the private car.
The proposed corridor improvements include a mixture of technological and infrastructure changes as well as amendments to bus lane operation times. These elements together create a package of measures that improve bus services and bus user experience along both corridors.
The technological improvements will enhance coordination between traffic light junctions and enable buses to be detected, allowing them to be prioritised at traffic lights when necessary.
Further details of the proposals can be found below, but overall, the combination of changes to signal timings, civil works and bus lane operation times are anticipated to achieve up to 4 minutes of journey time savings on the Central Corridor and 3 minutes and 20 seconds journey time savings on the Eastern Corridor. Note these savings will fluctuate depending on the bus route, congestion levels and direction of travel along the corridors.
These proposals have been the subject of a previous informal consultation in Spring 2024.
- Fore Street Heavitree (Ref 6191 & 6192)
Devon County Council (Fore Street, Heavitree, Exeter) (Bus Lane) Order ENV ID: 6191
Devon County Council (Fore Street Area, Heavitree, Exeter) (Waiting Restrictions) Order ENV ID: 6192
The proposal for Fore Street, Heavitree is to amend the times of operation of the bus lane to provide greater priority for buses to pass queuing traffic during the daytime (7am to 7pm Monday to Saturday) when they are currently experiencing delays. Modifications to the waiting and loading restrictions within the bus lane are also proposed to match the new timings. The parking in North Street is also being shortened to allow the traffic lanes to be widened on the exit onto Fore Street which will improve capacity and bus movements out of the junction.
The consultation ran from the 19 September 2024 – 10 October 2024
Details of the proposal and consultation are listed below.
- 6191 & 6192 Advert & Statement of Reasons
- 6191 & 6192 Plans
- 6191 Draft Order (Bus Lane)
- 6192 Draft order (Waiting Restrictions)
On Tuesday 12 November 2024 Exeter Highways & Traffic Order Committee approved the making and sealing of the traffic regulations orders for Fore Street Heavitree, subject to recommendations. See Fore Street Area, (Heavitree, Exeter) (Waiting Restrictions) Ref 6192 Modification for details.
- Fore Street Area, (Heavitree, Exeter) (Waiting Restrictions) Ref 6192 Modification
Following further consideration, it is being recommended that the proposals for the waiting restrictions are modified.
The modification would:
- relocate the loading bay outside the laundrette further east, to outside 96 Fore Street
- introduce a new length of No Waiting At Any Time to replace the existing loading bay.
This proposed modification seeks to amend where loading takes place in Fore Street and the proposed location would allow inbound traffic to bypass those vehicles waiting to turn right into the petrol station (during hours when the bus lane is not operational).
A modification order was advertised between 13 March 2025 – 21 March 2025. Details of the proposals are listed below:
On Tuesday 12 November 2024 Exeter Highways & Traffic Order Committee approved the making and sealing of the traffic regulations orders for Fore Street Heavitree (please see link above for details), subject to recommendations:
- approve the relaxation of the proposed bus lane operation times on Heavitree Fore Street from Monday to Saturday 12 hours (7am-7pm) to Monday to Friday peak times (7am-10am and 4pm-7pm) and further monitoring take place for Saturday.
- approve that the modification of the traffic regulation order (6192) to relocate the loading bay on Fore Street is explored, and delegate the final decision to the Director of Climate Change Environment and Transport, in consultation with the Chair of this Committee and Local County Councillors.
- Heavitree Road (Ref 6193 & 6194)
Devon County Council (Heavitree Road, Exeter) (Bus Lane) Order ENV ID: 6193
Devon County Council (Heavitree Road, Exeter) (Waiting Restrictions) Order ENV ID: 6194
The proposal for Heavitree Road is to extend the outbound bus lane and introduce a new set of bus only traffic lights which would allow buses to be prioritised when making the right-hand turn into Barrack Road. To enable these works, modifications to waiting and loading restrictions on this section of the highway are also required as proposed.
The consultation ran from the 19 September 2024 – 10 October 2024
Details of the proposal and consultation are listed below.
- 6193 & 6194 Advert & Statement of Reasons
- 6193 & 6194 Plans
- 6193 Draft Order (Bus Lane)
- 6194 Draft order (Waiting Restrictions)
On Tuesday 12 November 2024 Exeter Highways & Traffic Order Committee approved the making and sealing of the traffic regulations orders for Heavitree Road (please see link above for details).
- Pinhoe Road (Ref 6195 & 6196)
Devon County Council (Pinhoe Road, Exeter) (Bus Lane) Order ENV ID: 6195
Devon County Council (Pinhoe Road, Exeter) (Waiting Restrictions) Order ENV ID: 6196
The proposal for Pinhoe Road is to amend the times of operation of the bus lane to provide greater priority for buses to pass queuing traffic during the peak times when they are currently experiencing delays. Modifications to the waiting and loading restrictions within the bus lane are also proposed to match the new timings.
The consultation ran from the 19 September 2024 – 10 October 2024
Details of the proposal and consultation are listed below.
- 6195 & 6196 Advert & Statement of Reasons
- 6195 & 6196 Plans
- 6195 Draft Order (Bus Lane)
- 6196 Draft order (Waiting Restrictions)
On Tuesday 12 November 2024 Exeter Highways & Traffic Order Committee approved the making and sealing of the traffic regulations orders for Pinhoe Road (please see link above for details).
- Honiton Road (Ref 6197 & 6198)
Devon County Council (Honiton Road, Exeter) (Bus Lane) Order ENV ID: 6197
Devon County Council (Honiton Road, Exeter) (Waiting Restrictions) Order ENV ID: 6198
The proposal for Honiton Road is to amend the times of operation of the bus lane to provide greater priority for buses to pass queuing traffic during the peak times (Monday to Saturday) when they are currently experiencing delays. Modifications to the waiting and loading restrictions within the bus lane are also proposed to match the new timings.
The consultation ran from the 19 September 2024 – 10 October 2024
Details of the proposal and consultation are listed below.
- 6197 & 6198 Advert & Statement of Reasons
- 6197 & 6198 Plans
- 6197 Draft Order (Bus Lane)
- 6198 Draft order (Waiting Restrictions)
On Tuesday 12 November 2024 Exeter Highways & Traffic Order Committee approved the making and sealing of the traffic regulations orders for Honiton Road (please see link above for details).