Bus Priority Proposal for Routes 55, 106, 236, 254 and 277 - Mare Street between St Thomas’s Square and Well Street

Overview

We are seeking your views on proposals to make changes to bus lane operating times on Mare Street, between St Thomas’s Square and Well Street.

Why are these changes being proposed?

The Council is committed to making Hackney’s roads safer for everyone living, working and visiting the borough as well as promoting public transport and helping to make buses more reliable. In addition to achieving faster journey times for bus users, these changes aim to encourage more people to use sustainable transport such as public transport, cycling or walking which would improve air quality and reduce emissions within the local area. 

Mare Street is served by five bus routes, 55, 106, 236, 254, and 277 which provide links through Hackney Central, Dalston, Finsbury Park and to the edge of the City. Over 40 buses per hour travel down this road in each direction carrying over 10,000 passengers per hour during peak times.

At off-peak times (10am - 4pm) when the bus lane is not enforced, vehicles parked in the parking bays on the southbound bus lane on Mare Street between St Thomas’s Square and Well Street obstruct buses as only one lane is available for all traffic. This has been identified as a cause of significant delays to local bus routes. The parked vehicles can result in the queuing of vehicles in the southbound direction and this also hampers cyclists and emergency vehicles.

The existing parking restriction on Mare Street between St Thomas’s Square and Well Street (no. 182 & 184) operates from Monday to Saturday, 10am - 4pm. To improve the flow of bus services and general traffic flow on Mare Street the Council is proposing a scheme to remove the parking bay on Mare Street between St Thomas’s Square and Well Street (no. 182 & 184), to be replaced with single yellow lines, and also to change the timings of the existing southbound bus lane operating hours to Monday to Saturday (7am - 7pm). Parking would still be allowed on the yellow lines between 7am - 7pm. The current bus lane operating hours are Monday to Saturday (7 - 10am and 4 - 7pm).

What is the proposed scheme?

Please refer to this drawing for further details.

The proposal is to amend the existing southbound bus lane operating hours on Mare Street between St Thomas’s Square and Well Street and remove the existing parking bays along the southbound travel direction. This would improve the reliability of the bus service.

The proposal includes the following:

• Upgrading the bus lane operating hours from Monday to Saturday to 7am - 7pm. This would also benefit cyclists.
• Removing the existing shared use parking bays between St Thomas’s Square and Well Street (no. 182 & 184) and replacing it with single yellow lines.
• Parking would still be permitted outside the bus lane operating hours on the single yellow lines section.

What happens next?

Your views will also be taken into account as part of the detailed design process. We will publish the consultation responses as well as the decisions made on this page.

Should the Council agree to proceed with these proposals following public consultation, a further statutory consultation will need to be carried out to produce the legal Traffic Management Orders & Notices. Subject to this, residents and stakeholders will receive a letter to inform them about the start date of the scheme. Public notices advising on the changes would also be displayed on lamp columns in the area at that time.