ANYONE who has driven through the centre of Evesham during rush hour will be aware of the horrendous build-up of traffic which can lead to considerable delay in even a short journey.

A recent survey listed the A4184 in Evesham town centre as one of the four worst sites for congestion in the county.

However, under the new Local Transport Plan being prepared by Worcestershire County Council and its partners, all that could be about to change.

"Priorities are the implementation of transport plans within Bewdley, Evesham, Pershore and Stourport-on-Severn to address "a range of problems in these towns," according to a summary of the 150-page Provisional LTP for 2006-2011.

The report concedes that travel patterns in the Wychavon district are particularly dispersed and "access to facilities is a major local concern."

The enhancement of Evesham and Pershore town centres to improve transport facilities for all as part of the Market Towns Transportation Initiave has also been made a priority.

In Evesham that is expected to result in the moving of existing bus parking facilities in the High Street.

The redesignation of the northern route between Evesham and Worcester as the new A44, will also impact on Pershore, the report said.

"The old A44 through Pershore has been downgraded and measures to reduce the impact of heavy goods vehicles on local communities along this route will be implemented.

"The downgrading of this route means that a street clutter project involving a review of all signs, road markings and street furniture on this route will be undertaken."

The LTP also recognised the major impact of heavy goods vehicles on communities in the Vale of Evesham.

But the report noted: "The agricultural industry within the Vale of Evesham is a major source of local employment and generates a significant amount of heavy goods vehicle traffic.

"The work of the Vale of Evesham Freight Quality Partnership is crucial to the improvement of communications between those communities and the haulage industry."

In the preface to the report, John Smith, the county council cabinet member for the environment, said: "The county's landscape is generally comprised of hills enclosing the wide river plains of the Severn, Avon and Teme.

"The limited number of bridges over these rivers creates a barrier to movement across the county and it is constraints such as this that will need to be tackled to allow Worcestershire to prosper."

However, there is not a single mention in the report of a proposal to build new bridges, even as, the report conceded, while repair works were being carried out at Upton Bridge, which carries around 12,000 vehicles a day, drivers had to take a 20-mile detour.

The report said: "With a total of 870 bridges and structures across the county, the Transport Asset Management Plan will need to ensure that a strategy is put in place to anticipate and tackle emerging problems with structures."

Other proposals contained in the document include:

l the introduction of US-style "yellow buses" on school routes

l reviewing all speed limits and reducing speed to 20mph around all schools

l allowing motorcycles to use bus lanes and enhanced cycle tracks

The final LTP will be published in March next year and further comments on the proposals will be welcomed to the end of November.