HIGHWAYS officials have unveiled radical proposals to cut traffic jams in the city centre.

They include introducing a new road layout to close a major route into the city and diverting traffic through a residential area.

Under the proposals New North Road would be closed to all traffic, apart from buses and taxis, between its junction with Longbrook Street and Sidwell Street.

Vehicles travelling towards the city would be diverted along Blackall Road to its junction with Pennsylvania Road.

They would then turn right into Longbrook Street and left into York Road, straight ahead at the traffic lights into Summerland Street, right into Western Way and on to the Paris Street roundabout.

The current on-street parking in Blackall Road may have to be removed to improve access for vehicles.

Engineers at Devon County Council believe the new system would be the best way to reduce congestion in Sidwell Street, making life easier for city drivers.

Cars wanting to get from New North Road to Sidwell Street would have to travel 0.87 miles instead of the 0.23 miles they have to travel at the moment.

Engineers say it should reduce carbon emissions by improving the movement of traffic. They also claim it would make life easier for shoppers crossing London Inn Square by the old Debenhams.

But councillors and residents have expressed concerns about the proposals.

They believe the problem has occurred since Paris Street was made one-way — and are calling for it to be reopened to traffic in both directions.

County councillor Richard Westlake, whose ward would be affected by the changes, said: "I'm not very happy with it at all.

"I think it will only shift the congestion from one area to another, and having the traffic diverted up York Road and across on to Western Way means that it will have to go up right past St Sidwell's school and it's a very dangerous corner there.

"I think diverting hundreds of cars up that way is a non-starter.

"It also means you are putting a substantial amount of traffic where there's substantial pedestrian movement."

Resident Kenneth Wood claimed all the problems in the area had arisen from making Paris Street one way following the redevelopment of Princesshay. Mr Wood said: "It was not necessary to make it one way and that was the first error they made. I am in favour of turning in back to two way traffic."

Local resident Hazel Harvey also backed calls to return Paris Street to two way traffic.

She said: "It is not an easy turn for traffic at the Pennsylvania/Blackall Road junction." But the proposal was welcomed by David Gray, who has owned the Old Fire House in New North Road for the past four years.

He said: "This would be fantastic as it would make the road a lot safer for our customers.

"Since they made Paris Street one way traffic queues along the road as far back as the prison some nights. On occasions our delivery truck has been held up for 20 minutes to get along to the pub."

A spokesman for Stagecoach South West said: "We currently experience substantial difficulties on Sidwell Street and therefore look forward to discussions with Devon County Council on how to resolve these problems."

Officers at Exeter City Council have expressed concerns over the proposal.

A spokesman said: "Officers were informally consulted last year on the problem of poor bus service reliability in Sidwell Street. A number of options were being considered by the county council at that time.

"The feedback from city council officers was that there were concerns about the amenity impact on residents of Blackall Road as a result of using this as an alternate route for traffic."

A county council spokesman stressed no decisions had been taken.

He said: "A number of options are being considered to reduce congestion in Sidwell Street and Cheeke Street and they are still being developed and assessed before any proposals can be put forward."