THERE was a degree of relief for drivers yesterday who have been plagued by traffic jams over the past few weeks as the bus gate on Polaris Way was opened up.

Numerous roadworks around the town have led to motorists queuing for hours to get home during rush hour periods in recent weeks.

The closure of Stratton Green Bridge for the electrification of the rail lines has had a big impact, while the upgrading of Bruce Street Bridges has also caused many problems.

To ease congestion in Great Western Way, the bus gate opened yesterday morning.

Council chiefs have said they are looking at the impact it has after which they may decide to open more bus gates.

Councillor Dale Heenan (Con, Covingham and Dorcan), the cabinet member for transport, said: “Bus gates across the town have been reviewed to consider their potential impact in providing relief to drivers stuck in delays caused by roadworks.

“The Polaris Way bus gate near Bruce Street Bridges is the first obvious candidate for a change.

“Discussions with Thamesdown Transport enabled a compromise to be reached in opening up Polaris way to create a second exit for a four-week trial period.

“This extra exit will allow traffic to leave the Hawksworth estate, Swindon College, Oasis and Research Councils without the hundreds of vehicles adding to queues on Great Western Way at rush hour.

“A decision on other bus gates will take place this week after we see whether this really makes any difference.”

The closure of Polaris Way is being done as a four-week trial and the impact it has on Thamesdown Transport buses will also be monitored.

The bus company has several routes going through Polaris Way.

Gordon Frost, operations director of Thamesdown, said: “Swindon’s bus gates are an important factor in enabling the buses to continue to run as punctually as possible. However, the road works across the town are creating issues for all motorists and so in order to try and help the situation we were willing to accept a trial suspension of this bus gate to benefit everyone.

“We will be monitoring the effect on the punctuality of Services 12 and 15 which are already affected by the closure of Northern Road. While we anticipate minimal disruption, we will keep the issue under review.”