Accidents caused by a Walsall bus lane could kill someone, claims businesswoman

A Walsall business owner has called for a bus lane to be removed on a main route into town.

Jenny Mann claims that 'countless' crashes have taken place because of the bus lane on Wolverhampton Road over the last five years.

The lane, heading into Walsall Town Centre, was installed in 2011 and Ms Mann, who owns Manns Carpets, claims problems with crashes, near misses and traffic since then have been like nothing she has seen in her 30 years of running her business.

She said that in the past week alone, two crashes have taken place there and called on Walsall Council to consider removing the lane in order to reduce the number of collisions.

She said: "I have tried speaking with the council about this for a while now, but it is like talking to a brick wall, something has to be done.

"The problem is that the lane starts just after a hill, so people don't see it coming.

"If they are trying to access my business or one of the others on the street, or even get into one of the side streets, it leads to all manner of confusion because they don't want to get a fine.

"This is a road that comes off the M6 too, so if there are diversions we can have hundreds of cars coming through with drivers that don't know the area and don't know the lane is coming.

"I have never seen anything like it, the amount of crashes that occur here has gone up inmeasurably since the lane was introduced.

"I thank God that no one has been killed so far but I really think that is a strong possibility."

The Penalty Charge for travelling through a bus gate, being in a bus lane or bus-only street is £60.

If payment is received within 14 days of the notice date the charge is reduced to £30.

Walsall Council spokesperson Kate Goodall said: "The A454 Wolverhampton Road between junction 10 of the M6 and the town centre and ring road is an integral section of the borough's strategic highway network.

"The bus lane on the east bound carriageway plays an essential role in aiding the efficiency of traffic flow and easing congestion.

"Outside of the bus lane's operational hours, there is a section of parking limited to 20 minutes.

"There are no proposals to remove this bus lane.

"The Council undertakes an annual review of road traffic collision data in order to inform priorities in the Local Safety Plan.

"The next review will be considered by Cabinet in February 2017."