High angle view of St Pancras railway station in London, England
Liverpool City Council has launched a six-week long public consultation on proposals to curb moving traffic contraventions.
The city council is looking to apply for new enforcement powers to help reduce congestion, improve air quality and road safety, and encourage sustainable travel.
Part 6 of the Traffic Management Act (2004) allows local authorities to penalise poor driving habits which currently, under criminal law, can only be enforced by the police.
Liverpool City Council is planning to acquire these new powers for outside of London from the Department of Transport (DfT) and wants to hear views from local residents, businesses and interested parties.
People can go online to see the proposals and provide feedback at: https://liverpool.gov.uk/movingtrafficconsultation or go to Central Library to see a physical copy and fill in a form. The consultation ends on Monday, 19 December.
These new powers would allow the city council to reinforce the work it is currently doing to tackle unlawful and dangerous driving behaviour. It would also complement changes to key parts of the city’s highways networks such as the upgrade of The Strand and Lime Street, and the increasing number of cycle lanes being introduced across the city.
As part of their duties, the council would undertake the enforcement using Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) cameras.
However, following DfT guidelines, if approved and adopted there will be a six-month warning notice period where no fines will be issued for first-time offenders.
Examples of the type of moving traffic offences that can be enforced under the new powers include:
- Undertaking banned turns
- Driving through a ‘No Entry’ sign
- Driving in a route permitted for buses and taxis only
- Driving through a school street, pedestrian and cycle zone
- Entering a yellow box junction when the exit is not clear
If granted these powers, the council would initially undertake enforcement at the following nine locations around the city:
1. New Quay/George’s Dock Gates/St Nicholas Place/Chapel Street northbound – Yellow box junction
2. New Quay/George’s Dock Gates/St Nicholas Place/Chapel Street southbound – Yellow box junction
3. St Anne Street outside Liverpool Community Fire Station – Yellow box junction
4. Whitechapel/Hood Street/Crosshall Street – Yellow box junction
5. Watergate Lane at Much Woolton Catholic School – School street
6. Arlington Avenue – Greenbank Primary School – School street
7. Lime Street – Bus-only link (Note: Lime Street ETRO consultation is also currently live)
8. Copperas Hill – Left turn into Ranelagh Place
9. Ranelagh Place – Banned u-turn
NEXT STEPS:
The public are urged to provide feedback at https://liverpool.gov.uk/movingtrafficcameraconsultation.
After the consultation ends, responses will be analysed and reported back to the city council’s Chief Executive for a final decision on the proposals. If approved, the city council will make a formal application to the Department for Transport to seek the powers to enforce moving traffic offences, with the aim of implementation in Summer 2023.
The council would then assess other key highways routes to implement these powers.
If people have any questions regarding the consultation, please email transportation@liverpool.gov.uk with ‘TMA Part 6 consultation’ in the subject line.
Paper copies of this survey are available at Central Library, William Brown St, Liverpool L3 8EW and need to be posted by Monday, 19 December to ensure that your views are captured before the end of the consultation to:
TMA Part 6 Consultation
Highways & Transportation Major Projects
4th Floor, Cunard Building
Water Street
Liverpool L3 1DS
