THE man charged with easing the county’s traffic woes wants more people to park outside Hereford and use bikes to get into the city centre.

Calling on people to tell him how they want to travel in and out of Hereford, Councillor Graham Powell, cabinet member for infrastructure, has revealed his own vision for easing traffic jams – a countywide network of cycle paths.

Coun Powell wants people who commute into the city to park on the outskirts.

Holme Lacy Road, Holmer, Belmont and Kings Acre Road are all options where he says drivers can leave their cars before cycling into town. It would take, he says, 10 minutes or less to bike in.

“There are changes we can make that would make a huge difference to Hereford’s roads now,” said Coun Powell.

“I’m not talking about when the relief road is going to be built; that’s another conversation.

"This is about what we can do today to have an integrated traffic network that meets the needs of everyone.

“People talk about park-and-ride and that’s something we would like to see in the future.

But we don’t have the bus lanes and people aren’t going to use park-and-ride if they’re going to sit in the same traffic they would be in if they were in their own cars.”

It is estimated there are 10,000 journeys into Hereford city centre every morning that start and end in the city. Most are five kilometres or less.

“If we can get even 10 per cent of commuters biking in, that will make a huge difference,” said Coun Powell.

Bike paths that commuters and schoolchildren can safely use are one of several objectives set out in the council’s Local Transport Plan that Coun Powell wants residents to see.

Consultation on the plan – which also discusses changes to the county’s parking strategy and 20mph residential zones – runs until November 16.

“I want everyone who travels in Herefordshire to have their say,” said Coun Powell.

“I don’t care how they get in touch. But everyone who has sat in rush hour traffic to get 10 minutes down the road or struggled with public transport in rural areas has an opinion and I want to hear it.”

To view the consultation document visit herefordshire.gov.uk/ltpconsultation.

You can take part online or write to Local Transport Plan Consultation, Freepost RLSE-HHZC-XTUG, Herefordshire Council, PO Box 236, Plough Lane, Hereford HR4 OWZ.