Re-opening a disused Coventry railway station and having a tram link with Birmingham will be considered among options for reducing the city’s traffic chaos.

The call to re-open Coundon Stop in Moseley Avenue was made by Spon End residents concerned at the possibility of Holyhead Road being grid-locked by an increase in traffic.

They fear that if taxi manufacturers LTI are given planning permission to move out of their factory and sell the land for retail use, the already busy road will become intolerable.

Members of the Spon End Red Brick Association are also worried by plans to increase the amount of traffic coming into Coventry by a bus showcase scheme that will use Allesley Old Road and the Butts.

Vice Chair Kevin Noble has called on Coventry City Council to take a wider strategic view to prevent residents having to oppose every development that happens in their area.

He said:

“We support the bus showcase scheme, and we can understand why LTI need to move, but the problem is the way the consultation is carried out.

“If we were asked our views at an early stage then we wouldn’t necessarily have to oppose it.

“LTI have been really good at talking to us, but the whole structure of the way the council goes about things is wrong.

“People who live in the red brick area of Spon End are being trapped in their streets. Although these developments are separate issues they affect the same people.”

But Cllr John McNicholas, the cabinet member for transport issues, said these matters were being looked at.

He acknowledged that the traffic coming into Coventry from the A45 and out-lying areas was causing traffic problems in the area.

He said:

“The problem we have is that Coventry is a success. People want to come here, people want to develop here and a lot of the places they want to develop are in this area.”

He said measures such as re-opening the Coundon station would be considered as options to build into the next stage of the five-year regional transport plan.

“The metro in the black country has been a phenomenal success. Developments are being attracted nearer and nearer to the line.

“There is capacity between Nuneaton and Birmingham and we have a line that goes up to Nuneaton. I want to see if it is possible to have shared use of the heavy railway line and the two metros could meet in the middle of Birmingham.”

James Russell, Assistant Director of the City Development Directorate added that measures such as park and ride schemes were catered for, but faced practical difficulties.

He said:

“We have money to develop sites for Park and Ride in the east and west of the city, but identifying a suitable site in the west is going to be quite hard.

“The obvious answer is to use a place in the green belt, but we wouldn’t want to build on that.

“We are looking at the longer term strategy. We’ve got a five year plan but we are considering what to look for at the end of that plan.”