Drivers will finally face penalties for ignoring Wath's bus gate
It has taken decades but enforcement action will now be taken against drivers
Wath’s bus gate restrictions are finally being enforced - more than than three decades after private traffic was barred from the junctions.
A Traffic Regulation Order has been in place since the 1990s for buses-only junctions — intended to free up the traffic flow for public transport, at the Montgomery Road entry from Biscay Way and the West Street exit onto Biscay way.
But the restrictions were never imposed with Rotherham Council confirming in a response to a Freedom of Information request that there have been no penalties issued against drivers for infringing the restrictions in the last five years.
Rotherham Council acted last summer by introducing a new Traffic Regulation Order which allowed for the installation of automatic number plate recognition cameras at the site - and redesigning the junctions as bus gates.
It has taken more than a year to introduce those cameras, but Rotherham Council has confirmed they became active earlier this month.
A spokesman said: “Enforcement did not commence immediately following approval of the Order as a number of preparatory steps were required before camera enforcement could be introduced.
“Those preparations have now been completed.”
Initially, it had been hoped that the cameras would have been in place before the end of 2025.
Buses enter and leave the interchange around 170 times every day and council officers highlighted that private motorists ignoring the ‘buses only’ rule were affecting the reliability of services.
Bus operator Stagecoach and police were supportive on the plan, when Rotherham Council held consultations in the early part of last year.
A six-months settling in period means drivers found breaching the rules will get a warning for their first offence during that time period, with charges for any subsequent breaches.
The council anticipates that, after the initial investment in installing the cameras, income from penalty charge notices will cover the costs of operating the system.
In addition to installing cameras, road markings will change for both entry and exit traffic from the old ‘No entry except buses’ to ‘Bus gate’.
The council has a fall-back position to cover the bills should income levels fall short of the money needed, however.