Metro

I think the decision to restrict Bute Street is actually related to the Herbert Street Bridge. This bottleneck prevents the surrounding roads being optimised - It is not possible to redesign the Bute Street junction to comply with all regulations unless the traffic flow is restricted.

The changes on those plans mean at Herbert Street Junction you will only be able travel west through Penarth road or south down through butetown via Bute Street to the bay (or at the traffic lights before you could travel down the desolate Lloyd George Avenue also to the bay)

If you can’t travel north into town at that junction (or anywhere else on the existing Callaghan square) demand is going to significantly drop. Maybe that’s the plan…

https://haveyoursay.tfw.wales/cardiff-crossrail

Some interesting new bits on that route design that I don't think I'd seen anywhere before.

- The very top of Bute Street to be closed off in linking into Callaghan Square / Herbert Street.
- The tramway to descend down Bute Street and link into the existing train line in front of St Mary's Church.

Looks good!

Some interesting new bits on that route design that I don't think I'd seen anywhere before.

- The very top of Bute Street to be closed off in linking into Callaghan Square / Herbert Street.
- The tramway to descend down Bute Street and link into the existing train line in front of St Mary's Church.

Looks good!

Closing off the top of Bute Street is going to make reaching the Saint Davids and John Lewis car parks a real pain! If I read the document correctly cars coming up Penarth Road will have to travel down Lloyd George Avenue and back up the central link to access the city centre car parks.

I suppose the new MSCP south of the station does offer an alternative albeit one a fair distance from the shops.

Surely you'd just go Tyndall St, left at magic roundabout, and back along Adam St?

Still a detour, although at quiet times only a couple of minutes. Would have concerns about the effect on already congested areas though.

Also I assume the intention must be to return Custom House St to two way traffic?

Surely you'd just go Tyndall St, left at magic roundabout, and back along Adam St?

Still a detour, although at quiet times only a couple of minutes. Would have concerns about the effect on already congested areas though.

Also I assume the intention must be to return Custom House St to two way traffic?

Looking at the proposal documents it appears Customhouse Street will remain as bus lanes in both directions. An interesting point is that all the traffic currently entering via Penarth Road and Wood Street will, somehow, now enter the city centre via the Central Link Road from the Bay.

It's great to finally see some published plans for this. I expect the "consultation" to be a tick box exercise though. There is a very tight timeline to get this built and use the allocated funding. There may be scope for some cosmetic tinkering but my guess is the general arrangement is unlikely to change - they need to get this out to tender very soon.

I also cant help thinking that £100M is a hell of a lot of money for less than half a mile of new tramway. But when you see the complete redesign of the highway and public realm along the route, you can see where the money goes. Im pretty sure theres a simpler and cheaper solution - value engineering can work in both directions.

Surely you'd just go Tyndall St, left at magic roundabout, and back along Adam St?

Still a detour, although at quiet times only a couple of minutes. Would have concerns about the effect on already congested areas though.

Also I assume the intention must be to return Custom House St to two way traffic?

Looking at the proposal documents it appears Customhouse Street will remain as bus lanes in both directions. An interesting point is that all the traffic currently entering via Penarth Road and Wood Street will, somehow, now enter the city centre via the Central Link Road from the Bay.

As hemmingway road is now closed traffic will go down Lloyd George avenue and along pier head before negotiating the roundabout. Add in plans to reduce LGA to a single carriageway and it looks like planned congestion.
There's the option of Tyndall st, but that pops you out in the same place in the end.
I like the idea of sorting out Callaghan square, it's a place I tend to avoid when driving west-east, but I think closing top of Bute street is an error.

I like the idea of sorting out Callaghan square, it's a place I tend to avoid when driving west-east, but I think closing top of Bute street is an error.

100% this. It would be interesting to know how much of the traffic realignment in actually required to run the new line and how much is just about traffic management. It dosn't make much sense in terms of hitting net zero to increase the length of car journeys and cause congestion.