BUS commuters will have an easy ride when Bury gets connected to the future of commuting.

Under the plans announced this week, new "quality bus corridors" (QBCs) will link Bury to Manchester, Bolton and Rochdale.

The scheme will see the extension of Bus Lanes and special traffic lights to let buses cut through the congested traffic of some of the borough's busiest routes.

Manchester Road in Bury and Bury Old Road and Bury New Road through Prestwich and Whitefield will be the first to benefit. Similar schemes to link to Bolton and Rochdale will follow later.

Mr Peter Schofield, Bury's engineering manager in charge of transportation services said: "The aim is to get the public out of their cars and into buses. Passengers will benefit from more reliable services which will be more frequent, quicker and more comfortable.

"Everyone will benefit from less congestion, a cleaner environment and improved safety." This week council transport bosses set aside £50,000 for a study into how the QBC scheme will work in Bury.

This will be completed by the end of this year, and the detailed scheme will be put to public consultation in March 2000.

The project is at the heart of Integrate, Greater Manchester's bid to lead the nation in public transport. Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Executive have already asked Government transport supremo John Prescott to let the county be the hothouse to shape the future of transport policy. Other areas of the county will pilot QBCs, with Bury in phase two.

The QBCs will complement Bury Council's own bus priority scheme in the town centre. Stage 3 of the Bury Town Centre Strategy includes measures to give priority to buses and pedestrians on Market Street. The scheme will remove through traffic from Market Street and Haymarket Street while still allowing access for buses, taxis, cyclists and service vehicles.

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