Traffic management in Hull. Not my favourite topic of conversation at the moment following my attempts to make it across the City in rush hour. Not the best time to try either, admittedly, but it’s a pretty common complaint amongst those who sit in a pool of frustration and boredom in the gridlock day after day.

So, what is the general opinion on Hull City Council’s ideas, and the numerous suggestions which have been flying around, for solving the problem?

One of the ideas I’ve heard of is a car-free City Centre, where cars and commercial traffic will be banned from going into an “environmental zone”. Other than deliveries to shops and offices during restricted hours, only buses and cyclists will be able to whiz though the centre, dodging pedestrians as they happily breeze through.

Widening the main roads into the City and creating more bus lanes is another idea that has been thrown into the hat of tricks, along with upgrading the existing gridlocked ring road route. You may be sensing my scepticism.

I am, however, delighted to see that Council officials have ruled out a London-style congestion charge, which surely would have been a death sentence for our vibrant City. I’m also pleased to see that Council’s are taking positive steps towards developing park-and-ride schemes.

Even so, there can be no doubt that every single driver is dreading the looming £200m upgrade of Castle Street, which will see Hull’s busiest road restricted to a single lane in each direction for up to four years. Don’t worry though, if you get caught stuck in traffic and are unable to make it across the city, you can always use Cityvisitor to find the nearest B&B or pub to pass away the time.