'Forget about driving into city' expert warns.

Byline: Rhodri Clark

THE freedom to drive a car straight into Cardiff at any time of the day has gone for good, a transport expert has warned.

In recent weeks, commuters travelling into the city have become frustrated by roadworks causing delays on several key routes.

Congestion has hit the M4 near Celtic Manor, the A48 where an extra lane is being installed for buses, outside Cardiff Castle where a new pedestrian crossing is being built and south of St David's 2 where work for buses is being carried out.

And transport consultant Lynn Sloman said that unless the city is rebuilt in the style of smog-ridden Los Angeles, commuters would have to get used to delays or start taking public transport.

Ms Sloman said Cardiff could not accommodate more and more cars because of its physical limitations.

"Short of razing Cardiff to the ground and rebuilding it in the form of Los Angeles, there's a limit to the amount of space we can create. American cities are realising the idea that everyone can get around by car just doesn't work," said Dr Sloman, a board member of Cycling England, an independent body set up by central Government.

Cardiff is being used as Wales' first example of a "sustainable travel town" with funding provided by the Assembly Government to part-pedestrianise St Mary Street and improve facilities for walkers, cyclists and bus users.

And Ms Sloman said that England's three sustainable travel towns - Worcester, Darlington and Peterborough - had shown that making it easier for people to walk, cycle or use public transport resulted in people leaving their cars at home.

"Cardiff is just starting off but there's huge potential over the next five years to make it a nicer and more efficient place to get around.

"There may be initially frustration about disruption caused by schemes as they're going in, but all the experience from places which have done this type of thing is that they have been successful and popular."

Garel Rhys, emeritus professor at Cardiff University Business School, said the freedom of the open road was vanishing because so many people wanted to go from A to B at the same time. He said the park-and-share facility due to open off the M4 at Pentwyn next month could be useful, allowing people to share cars for the last few miles into the city.

"The commuter railways around Cardiff are excellent. The park-and-rides are full to the brim." said Prof Rhys.

"But I don't think Cardiff has got the balance right. For example, the junction near Victoria Park used to work very well and now it's been made so that it's for buses. In Westgate Street there's under-utilisation of the bus lanes. There must be buses on them all the time, otherwise we don't utilise that road space properly."

A Cardiff council spokesman said: "With road traffic continuing to grow at significant levels, Cardiff is acting now - to prevent serious congestion problems in the future. Through a number of different projects the council's plans will create safe, reliable and sustainable modes of transport that will provide positive environmental, social and economic results across the city."

COULD CARDIFF BECOME LIKE ENGLAND'S SUSTAINABLE TRAVEL TOWN - WORCESTER?

Worcester is much smaller than Cardiff, with a population of 93,000 to Cardiff's 305,000.

But there are hopes that Worcester's achievements as a pilot "sustainable travel town" will be repeated in Cardiff. Research has found residents use their cars less - saving 12m car miles a year. Some 11% more trips are made by walking since the changes were made. An average of 20% more trips are made by bus.

And use of bicycles has risen by 19%. A "teachers on bikes" scheme saved almost 4,000 car miles alone and was followed a "police on bikes" initiative. One of the pilot's most popular legacies is a cycle loan scheme. Residents considering buying a bike can borrow one of 200 bikes for six months.

THE roadworks causing commuter misery: Work on a pedestrian crossing at the corner of Duke Street by Cardiff Castle and widen pavements over the summer. On the M4, near the Celtic Manor, a temporary 50mph speed limit is enforced by average-speed cameras as work is undertaken on the central reservation. On the A48, east of Cardiff, off-peak work to create a third lane for buses and shared cars is taking the dual carriageway down to one lane.

On the southern side of the city centre work is being carried out to put in place the infrastructure for the "bus box" which will link buses into a regular shuttle bus around the city centre.

CAPTION(S):

A transport expert says Cardiff can no longer accommodate the increasing numbers of cars on its roads and would need to be rebuilt in the style of LA to cope, unless commuters switch to public transport PICTURE: David Hurst [umlaut]