Dundee’s councillors are to discuss the final proposal for the city’s low emission zone (LEZ) at a council meeting next week.
At Monday’s community safety and public protection committee, councillors will discuss results of the statutory consultation on the plans.
The proposals would see the city’s inner ring road used as a boundary for a low emission zone.
This means older buses, HGVs and cars could be banned from the roads of Dundee City Centre to maintain the air quality.
Lynne Short, deputy committee convener, said: “It is vital that we continue to bring the people of Dundee, businesses and those commuters and visitors who come into the city, with us on the road to an effective and efficient low emission zone.
“In the process so far, it has been clear that there is a good deal of support for the council’s drive to prioritise air quality and a recognition that it is critical to us becoming the vibrant and attractive city we want to be.”
Mark Flynn, convener of the city development committee, added: “A considerable amount of time and effort has been put in by a team of experts to establish what the most effective option is for improving the city’s air quality.
“Traffic modelling ruled out extending the LEZ to Lochee Road as a result of the predicted increase in traffic on surrounding streets and junctions and subsequently higher levels of congestion and emissions on a roads network never designed to deal with it.”
Emissions
Other physical measures to help improve air quality in Lochee Road will be brought forward to the city development committee in due course.
The plans would see Dundee city introduce the low emission zones by spring 2022, along with the Scottish Government’s timetable for the introduction.
The report to the community safety and public protection committee recommends including a two-year grace period in the LEZ scheme, with enforcement beginning for all vehicles in spring of 2024, with no additional grace period for residents living within the LEZ boundary.
The LEZ will operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week and be enforced through a network of automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) cameras.
An LEZ will contribute to the broader city objectives and the vision to create a healthy, vibrant and attractive city by protecting public health through improving air quality in Dundee.
Dundee’s LEZ will develop an environment that helps to promote more active and sustainable travel choices, contributes to the city’s ongoing transformational change and helps to promote Dundee as an inclusive and desirable place to live, invest, visit and learn.
