The government is to limit measures councils can take to curb car traffic including 20mph speed restrictions and bus lanes, the Guardian understands, under plans that have alarmed travel groups and risks a row with local authorities.
In another sign Rishi Sunak hopes to gain support by prioritising the needs of motorists, other plans expected to be announced next week include limits on local authorities’ abilities to levy fines from traffic cameras and restrictions on enforcing box junction infringements.
It is believed that the prime minister could announce what has been called the “Plan for Motorists” at the Conservative conference in Manchester as early as Monday.
It is expected to include moves to limit English councils’ powers to place 20mph speed limits on main roads, and to restrict the number of hours a day that car traffic is banned from bus lanes.
The plan is understood to also include curbs on local authorities’ ability to impose fines, and thus raise revenue, from traffic infractions caught by automatic number plate recognition cameras, and on the use of such cameras in box junctions.
A Department for Transport source described the policies as “speculation”.
The plans, which have not been discussed with councils, are likely to prompt concern at a further centralisation of powers and the sense that Sunak wants to make life easier for car drivers at the expense of people who use the bus, cycle or walk for travel.
It reinforces his pledge in July to crack down on what he called “anti-motorist policies” after the unexpected Conservative win in the Uxbridge and South Ruislip byelection, which was aided by concerns about the expansion of London’s ultra-low emission zone (Ulez).
At the time, Downing Street said Sunak had no plans to restrict the use of 20mph speed limits, which evidence shows can significantly reduce the numbers of road deaths and injuries.
In July, the prime minister ordered a review of low-traffic neighbourhoods (LTNs), which seek to increase active travel by restricting through traffic on smaller residential streets.
Councils in England have since been instructed by the DfT to return lengthy questionnaires by the end of September on any LTNs they have installed since 2020, including the consultation process used before they were built.
Announcing a wider set of driver-favouring policies at the Tory party conference could help Sunak deflect attention from political pressures generated by the continued uncertainty over whether the Birmingham to Manchester leg of the HS2 rail line will be scrapped, something he declined to clarify more than a dozen times during a round of media interviews on Thursday.
Talking to BBC Radio Manchester, Sunak tried to argue that prioritising driving was the best policy, as “the vast majority” of the journeys that people made were in cars.
However, the prospect of limiting councils’ powers to improve the roads for not just cyclists and pedestrians but also bus passengers could provoke another controversy, especially in Manchester, where buses have been brought back under public control with the aim of massively increasing the numbers of people who use them.
The transport charity Sustrans said the plans, if introduced would mean Sunak was yet again failing those people who did not drive or own a car.
A spokesperson said: “Why is the prime minister going out of his way to clog our roads with cars – what kind of legacy is this supposed to leave? What about the 45% of people on low incomes who don’t own a car?
“Prioritising cars in this way serves no one – not pedestrians, not cyclists, not users of public transport. It doesn’t even benefit drivers, who will face more congestion.”
Sarah Mitchell, the chief executive of the charity Cycling UK, said: “When Beeching took an axe to local railways in the 1960s, we were robbed of the freedom to choose how we travel. The government’s reported ‘plan for the motorist’ feels like history repeating itself.
“We need a holistic plan for how people can travel, not a plan that zooms in on one particular mode of transport. A plan that gives us the freedom to choose how we travel, maximising our ability to opt for healthy, cheap and convenient options.
“Better public transport, and safer ways for people to cycle and walk are entirely compatible with driving. Focusing on one way of travelling is like trying to complete a jigsaw with half the pieces missing.”