Exeter residents have been asked for their views on proposals to improve bus reliability and active travel facilities in the city. And the hope is they won't be as controversial as the Heavitree and Whipton LTN.

Plans have been outlined to improve the primary arterial bus routes into Exeter, service frequencies and congestion to establish the key bus corridors within Exeter. The aim is for the bus related schemes to be complete and operational by March 2025.

The Exeter Central corridor is approximately 3km (1.9miles) in length between Paris Street Roundabout and the Middlemoor Roundabout. It includes Heavitree Road, Fore Street, East Wonford Hill, and Honiton Road. The corridor has up to 30 buses an hour in each direction Mondays to Saturdays.

The Exeter Eastern Corridor is approximately 3.4km (2.1 miles) in length between Pinhoe Sainsburys and the City Centre (Sidwell Street), predominantly along Pinhoe Road (B3212) which has up to 18 buses an hour two-way total Mondays to Saturdays.

Read the full details of the proposals here

In a leader column in our sister print title the Express and Echo, the editor writes the idea is to make bus travel more attractive by helping buses move through the city, as well as creating safer and easier routes for pedestrians and cyclists. They add everyone knows congestion is an issue in our city and anything that helps to alleviate that would be welcomed.

Read the full leader column below

A lot has been said and written in the last six months about changes to make the streets better for people not in a car, and now a new scheme has come forward.

Join DevonLive on WhatsApp to get the news first - find out more HERE.

This time, unlike the low-traffic neighbourhood trial on residential roads in Heavitree and Whipton, it is on two of the main arterial routes in and out of the city, and the main focus is on improving bus times.

The Devon County Council proposal is centred around two ‘bus corridors’, which it has termed central and eastern. Central takes in Honiton Road and Heavitree Road from the Paris Street roundabout to Middlemoor roundabout, and eastern is mainly along Pinhoe Road, between Sidwell Street and Sainsbury’s in Pinhoe.

It would involve new bus lanes, two pedestrian and cycle crossings and bus priority technology. It would also use CCTV cameras that would give the council the power to fine drivers for traffic offences along the corridors.

Among the various proposals, there would be bus priority traffic lights at the end of the Heavitree Road bus lane to help buses turning into Barrack Road, and an additional northbound lane and bus lane on Barrack Road, which would see one path removed.

There would also be a new crossing on Pinhoe Road, by Polsloe Bridge, to aid people moving between Hamlin Lane and the path running north-south from The Queens Head pub to Beacon Avenue.

The idea is to make bus travel more attractive by helping buses move through the city, as well as creating safer and easier routes for pedestrians and cyclists.

It is hoped the changes – which could be introduced in March next year – could result in bus journeys being around four minutes quicker on central routes and a 27% reduction in bus journey times on eastern routes.

Would all the changes be worth four minutes? That is probably a difficult question to answer, but everyone knows congestion is an issue in our city and anything that helps to alleviate that would be welcomed.

However, what some people will be concerned about is any knock-on effect for other road users, and whether it could see minutes added to their journey times.

People can have their say now, with a public consultation running until noon on Friday, March 29.

Public drop-in events will be held on Tuesday, March 19, at the Guildhall, and on Thursday, March 21, at Exeter Library.

Paper copies of the consultation material and questionnaires can also be provided.

Hopefully the proposals have been well thought through so they can make a positive change.