Motorists who have been flaunting new rules on Bridge Street will be fined from TODAY, council bosses have confirmed.
A new bus lane was put in place to target cars leaving Manchester city centre on December 28 — but there has been widespread evidence of cars ignoring the new rules. Now, the council has confirmed fines will be issued to rule-breakers from today — Wednesday, January 11, 2023.
Footage has been shared on social media of cars driving through the bus lane, which starts outside the People’s History Museum, before crossing the Irwell in Salford. Indeed, when the MEN visited Bridge Street on Monday (January 9), scores of cars drove straight through the new bus lane.
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Those rule-breakers would have been sent a warning letter as the council offered a two-week grace period to motorists. However, that has now come to an end.
Staff at the museum which overlooks the entrance say they spot ‘hundreds’ of drivers ignoring the new bus lane — which is advertised with two signs, a warning sign 30 yards up the road, and a temporary dot-matrix electronic display.
“We do see about 300 cars a day go through it, I fear for them,” said Mike Prescott, People’s History Museum building manager. “It seems to be something people have done every day of their lives. Most people are ignoring it, maybe the sign is slightly out of glance.”
After the MEN asked Manchester City Council when drivers contravening would face financial penalties, a spokesperson confirmed Wednesday, January 11 as the start date.
"For a number of years there has been strong public support to improve access to Deansgate and transition cars away from the road, therefore a bus lane camera has been installed on the westbound carriageway to prevent cars accessing it,” a statement said. “Pedestrians, cyclists, hackney carriages and buses will retain access to Deansgate as normal, helping to improve air quality on the road and improve the ways in which the public can access Deansgate.
"The camera went live on December 28, 2022, with signage clearly installed to notify motorists. However, a two week grace period was put in place so that drivers unaware of the new road layout would receive a warning letter, rather than a Penalty Charge Notice (PCN).
"As of January 11, 2023, PCNs will start to be issued for any motorists using the bus gate."
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