Little bus lane makes big money from fines
IT is cold comfort, but the reader who wrote in to Viewpoints on
September 19 complaining about her bus lane fine isn’t alone.
We’re talking about the infamous Parrs Wood Lane bus lane in East Didsbury. It is probably the shortest bus lane in the city at around 60 metres. But what it lacks in length it certainly makes up in earnings.
The M.E.N. reported two years ago that this bus lane was among the city’s top ten best earners when it came to fines imposed.
Another news outlet reported in 2014 that £24,000-worth of fines were imposed in 40 days.
And the M.E.N. only recently reported this bus lane earning hundreds of pounds a day.
I was one of the early victims, being forced to pay a £30 fine after clipping the bus lane a few metres from the end. My daughter also faced a fine but won on appeal – she had moved into the bus lane to make way for an ambulance on an emergency call.
When the East Didsbury tram terminus opened, unwitting drivers could leave the car park halfway along Parrs Wood Lane and not see any bus lane warning notice. That caught out quite a few drivers until the bus lane was shortened even more to accommodate this traffic, and the warning signs were moved further along the road.
I believe Stockport councillors just over the Manchester border are concerned about this bus lane, and so they should be, as it is their residents who often fall victim to it.
It is all part of the planning madness that placed a major tram stop and its massive car park on the east side of the A34 Kingsway, with another equally large car park on the west side of Kingsway at the Tesco store, with a bus terminus nearby.
At rush hour especially this is an area to avoid, as it can result in complete gridlock.
Unfortunately, those of us who live in the area have to run the Parrs Wood Lane gauntlet on a daily basis. Dave Hulme, Stockport
Lib Dems bid to ‘sabotage’
YOUR Lib Dem correspondent (‘Draconian legislation should be scrapped, Viewpoints, September 14) completely and I’m guessing intentionally misses the point when he criticises me for voting for the second reading of the EU (Withdrawal) Bill.
In order to carry out the demo- cratic will of my constituents, the people of Greater Manchester, the North West and the whole of the UK, the majority of who voted to leave the EU it is necessary to support the Bill.
The Bill will repeal the 1972 Act which took up into the EU’s Predecessor, the Common Market and transfers current EU Legislation into UK Law.
Not to do this would result in legal chaos.
He is right that the government is taking too much power to itself although the powers will only last two years.
I and other Labour MPs intend to make amendments which will have the effect of limiting these powers.
The objective of the Lib Dems is to sabotage the referendum.
They should be honest about this and not pretend their opposition is about the government taking so-called Henry VIII powers, remember they don’t want parliament or the UK government to have these powers – they want our laws to be determined in Brussels. Graham Stringer MP
Our suburbs feel grubby
MUCH of Manchester does have a grubby feel to it.
Partly this is due to litter – but also to the extensive use of dark grey asphalt used on pedestrian areas such as Piccadilly bus station.
Infuriatingly, when there is an opportunity to change this, such as the Whitworth Park area of Oxford Road, the council only partly use paving and too readily fall back on ugly asphalt. As for suburbs like Gorton, Rusholme and Cheetham Hill – yes, they feel dirty.