Cameras going up on Sandwell bus lanes

They would go up along the A34 Birmingham Road in Great Barr and in New Street in the centre of West Bromwich. The two locations are considered to be problem hotspots for drivers flouting the rules, and that is why the cameras are going up.

One of them is near Sandwell College's Central Sixth campus and highways chiefs say people using the bus lanes are causing the town centre to become clogged with traffic at peak times.

Motorists caught driving in a bus lane face fines of £60 – which could be reduced to £30 or increased to £90 depending on when they were paid.

Councillor Maria Crompton, cabinet member for highways and environment, said: "There are significant road safety and congestion concerns brought about with the contravention of bus lane traffic regulation orders by motorists.

"This particularly applies to the town square in West Bromwich alongside the Central Sixth form college and significant peak time congestion around the bus station on St Michaels Street.

"The main effect is in West Bromwich where peak time congestion around the bus station is made considerably worse by the addition of a large number of prohibited journeys by cars through the bus only section of New Street town square.

"The consequent congestion on St Michaels Street disrupts and prevents bus movements in and out of the bus station. The consequence is that bus journeys are regularly delayed and the network can lock up at this location a few times each year.

"The alleviation of the prohibited use of the bus only street through the town square removes this congestion problem almost completely." Bosses estimate the cameras will cost £33,000 to set up with £11,000 needed to be spent on maintenance and software over four years.

The proposals will go before members of the council's cabinet at a meeting on May 20 when they are expected to agree to a public consultation.

CCTV is already being used to catch motorists parking illegally in the borough. More than 1,500 fines have been dished out since a new 'camera car' hit the streets in October as part of a crackdown on roads around Sandwell's 120 schools. The car is fitted with cameras which use automatic number plate recognition technology.