We've not previously found a challenge for this location, and this image suggests you could have avoided the bus gate:
The only option would be to make a submissions that tried to catch the authority out in making a procedural error, but of course there is no guarantee that this would work.
I was a recent victim of this particular trap and it was the first non-parking related fine I have received in my 16 years of driving. I went through the full appeals process and my appeal was dismissed, but it still agitates me to no end because there is genuinely a guessing game involved with this utterly ridiculous Bus trap.
1. The first traffic sign is incredibly misleading, both in terms of distance and the option presented to the driver. (1st attachment).
This is about 100 yards away from the actual bus gate. They erroneously tell you that the bus gate is 30 yards away and you have the only option of using a Local traffic only access road ahead. I guess the actual escape road is a planned surprise. More on that later. Its confusing because there is an actual bus stop 30 yards ahead but you can ignore this.
2. What they don't tell you is that there are in fact 2 left turns. The first one is the Local Access only road. The second one is the escape route, where the sign is positioned a generous
3 yards from the exit (attachment 2). This tiny sign now magically refers to a blocked road instead of a bus gate, but okay. What is consistency right.
3. If you are lucky enough to react to this sign, think again: the escape road is also clearly marked "Private Road" (attachment 3), which immediately makes you wonder if this is the Local Only Road that was being referred to earlier. So either you use a last second "Private road" or you go through the bus gate.
I presented this line of reasoning and it was rejected on the basis that all the signs are oh-so-very-clearly-marked-and-obvious.
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