Plans have been submitted for a transport interchange in Ramsey.
The interchange would include a tram and bus station, car park, bus parking facilities, and bus refuelling and washing facilities.
The joint project between the departments of Infrastructure and Community, Culture and Leisure, and Ramsey Commissioners would be located on the site of the MER station, tram storage shed, tram lines, The Shed youth building and Plaza car park.
In the planning statement submitted as part of the bid (14/00029/B), it says: ‘The current provision of separate bus and tram termini frustrates the client’s desire to provide an integrated transport interchange for Ramsey.
‘The bringing together of the bus and tram termini, along with associated car and bus parking in the proposed location, will serve to focus public transport on a site in close proximity to the town centre, which is currently undergoing regeneration works.’
In the bid, it says the current tram facility ‘although within 150m of the town centre, it is neither visible from the centre nor vice versa’.
And it says the current bus terminus is unusable during the TT and MGP due to its location ‘resulting in disadvantageous alterations to the operation of the service’.
It continues: ‘The relocation of the bus terminus will free up the existing site for potential housing or other uses.’
The car parking area will provide parking for 55 cars, drop off for three vehicles and parking for six motorcycles and eight bicycles. The current car park has 43 vehicle spaces.
A number of ‘potential planning issues’ are raised due to the site’s proximity to residential properties.
They include the impact of additional vehicle movements in terms of noise, air quality and traffic movements.