THE entire road network of Darlington is to come under the spotlight in a bid to get the town moving more smoothly.

Traffic congestion is a growing problem and is particularly bad in the run-up to Christmas

A team of consultants is to review the situation to see how people are using the present layout and what changes could be made.

The news was given to councillors at a meeting of the full council.

Cabinet member for highways and transport, Nick Wallis, said: "This is about encouraging us all to plan our lives and travel differently - especially if we want to cut congestion."

Coun Wallis was presenting an update on the Darlington: A Town on the Move initiative, set up to help spread the sustainable travel message.

The Cabinet also approved spending on travel marketing and other schemes to progress the project.

He said work on detailed travel behaviour research was nearing completion, with a full report expected by the end of February.

"It is about physical measures too as sometimes road layouts can have an impact," he said.

"I can tell you that in January a group of consultants will review the entire road network to check how we are using the model we have and what changes can be made quickly to ensure traffic moves more smoothly than it does now."

A report will be brought back to the council to see if there are any ideas which could help.

Coun Wallis said later that he was keen to take the scheme forward as quickly as possible.

The current traffic model had been drawn up a few years ago, he said.

"We needed to see who was going where and what capacity was like," said Coun Wallis.

"It has been updated since then but now needs reviewing again."

The study will eventually be put before a council scrutiny committee so that other councillors can have some input.

"There must be lots of evidence which could be helpful," he said. "And if we find that measures such as traffic islands are causing needless congestion then we could well say: 'let's rip them out.'"

The review could cost around £20,000. "It is a substantial study," said Coun Wallis.

"It is about behaviour and how we use modes of transport."

The first meeting of the Town on the Move reference group was held in October. The group includes council members plus representatives from Darlington Partnership, acute health trust, PCT, bus operators, community groups, government office, the department for transport and others.