Controversial Exeter car ban debate reignites as public consultation reopens

A public consultation on a controversial Exeter car ban has reopened after being paused for ‘clarification’.

And one of the original options for a solution to the problem is now off the table because it has been judged impractical and too expensive.

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The wrangle over Dryden Road has gone on for months, and a full-scale consultation is now under way again as councillors try to find a solution.

The road has been closed since the Covid pandemic, when cars were banned and it was turned over to cyclists to provide a safe and pollution-free route in and out of the city centre.

But campaigners looking to have the ban overturned say it has simply moved congestion and pollution to other neighbouring streets such as Bovemoors Lane. 

They say it has also created a hazardous ‘rat run’ through the grounds of the nearby hospital.

Members of the ‘hybrid’ Exeter highways and traffic orders committee (HATOC), which is made up of both county and city councillors, agreed in January to consult local people on a range of options.

They resisted calls to short-circuit the process and go straight to ‘Option Three’, which would see the road open to cars again, with designated cycle lanes.

The consultation was suspended last week amid questions about what the HATOC had actually agreed and what option had then been put out to consultation.

Members of the committee agreed in January to consult on having two-way traffic on Dryden Road with a ‘light-segregated’ cycle space using planters or bollards rather than a full kerb to separate cyclists from traffic.

But now, according to Devon County Council, officers have found that such a cycle route will not fit within the existing road width. 

Third-party land would have to be acquired and a retaining wall would have to be taken down.

As a result, the option now out for consultation shows a cycle lane simply marked out in paint and says drivers may enter the lane when needed.

Cllr Michael Mitchell (Lib Dem, Duryard and St James), who chairs the HATOC, said: “It was right to pause briefly while we looked into why the option described to the committee was different in detail to what is now being consulted on.

“I would encourage the community to take part in this important public consultation, the outcome of which will help councillors decide on the way forward.

“No decision has been made. That will follow at a HATOC meeting later in the year.”

Campaigners pushing for Dryden Road to be reopened had been ‘extremely disappointed’ by the pause, saying they believed Option Three had been a clear front-runner.

“How much more of the public’s money and time has to be wasted for them to accept what 4,000 petitioners, local speakers and campaigners have already told them?” asked Option Three supporter Ian Frankum.

But the Exeter Cycling Campaign is strongly against Option Three and favours a bus gate on Dryden Road, with access limited to authorised vehicles such as the emergency services.

Members say it is a ‘low-cost, proven option to resolve most stakeholder concerns’. 

The cyclists say Option Three costs too much, will create congestion and could be unsafe.

They say it will remove 900 vehicles past the houses on Bovemoors Lane but put an extra 1,500 vehicles into Dryden Road. 

Figures from the cycling campaign say it will lead to an overall increase in traffic movements at the Bovemoors Lane roundabout from 7,300 a day to 9,700.

“It will start to dismantle Exeter’s emerging safe cycling network, create traffic congestion and would be in direct opposition to the Exeter Transport Strategy,” they add.

The consultation period has been extended and will now close at midnight on April 10.