Cumbria County Council have now had confirmation that it has been awarded £260,000 for a range of temporary ‘pop up’ walking and cycling schemes. The funding, from the Department for Transport (DfT) Emergency Active Travel Fund, is designed to support local transport authorities to introduce temporary cycling and walking facilities.
During the height of the coronavirus people appreciated the cleaner air and quieter streets, transforming the environment in many of our towns and city, this was one of the positives to come out of Covid-19. Many people in Cumbria discovered, or rediscovered, cycling and walking.
The government is looking to local authorities to make significant changes to their road layouts to give more space to cyclists and pedestrians in the short, medium and long term.
It is hoped that these initial temporary changes will help embed altered behaviours and will promote more walking and cycling for short journeys, which will help keep people healthy and to reduce carbon emissions.
Cumbria could also receive a further £934,000 as part of the second funding tranche, later in the summer, subject to the success of any trial schemes and to it making a further case for funding to the DfT.
Cumbria County Council’s Cabinet Member for Highways and Transport, Cllr Keith Little said: “The main purpose of the first tranche of funding is to promote cycling and walking as a replacement for journeys previously made by public transport. These are trial pop up schemes and as such will look and feel temporary in there nature. Now we have the funding secured we will work closely with stakeholders and key representatives to develop the proposed schemes and hopefully bring them to fruition.”
The schemes being proposed to the DfT for the tranche 1 funding are as follows:
Barrow
Abbey Road – Pop up cycleway and pedestrian priority with junction rearrangement
Cornwallis Street – Pop up cycleway and pedestrian priority with junction rearrangement
Bridge Road – Pop up cycleway and pedestrian priority with junction rearrangement
Michaelson Road – Pop up cycleway and pedestrian priority with junction rearrangement
South Lakeland
Grasmere – create one-way through village to create space for a widened pedestrian areas
Kendal – Wildman Street to have a pop-up cycleway, which will also create a space for social distancing on the narrow footway.
Eden
Penrith – remove through traffic from Middlegate, Market Square, King Street and Victoria Road from Old London Road to Kilgour Street, while allowing deliveries and service buses to be maintained.
NOTE: Cumbria County Council have now stated that Middlegate and King Street will not be closed as part of the scheme.
Carlisle
Bus and cycle only gateway on English Street between The Crescent and Devonshire Street (outside the old Courts building) , providing a central cycle hub in the city centre which ties into existing cycle routes whilst also providing a safe and easy route through an area which can be intimidating for cyclists due to the existing road layout.
Allerdale
Workington
Creating a number of bike boxes on approach to traffic lights/cross roads at:
Washington Street Lights
Harrington Road/Annie Pit Road
Oxford Street Light
Central Way (Workington Underpass) – provide separate cycleway facility by way of barriers which allows easy two-way link between Northside and Workington.
Stainburn Road – Formal cycle lanes on both sides of carriageway by way of road markings.
Cockermouth
Market Place – close off Market Place to through traffic, allowing more open space for pedestrians and cyclists with the use of planters.
Station Street – provide separate cycleway facility by way of barriers and temporary extension of footway width to help social distancing.
Creating a number of bike boxes on approach to traffic lights/cross roads at Lorton St junction and Gallowbarrow.
Maryport
Creating a number of bike boxes on approach to traffic lights/cross roads at Netherhall Corner.
Keswick
Creating a number of bike boxes on approach to traffic lights/cross roads at Main Street and Penrith Road.
Thirlmere Dam Road, Thirlmere, Keswick – create Shared Pedestrian and Cycle Footpath (restrict vehicles).
Western Road at Derwentwater – create quiet road with priority give way at either end.
Copeland
Whitehaven
Make Swingpump Lane one way from Rosemary Lane to East Strand and use the other lane to install a cycle way to allow safer journeys and alternatives to public transport.
Any temporary or permanent changes require Traffic Regulation Orders and the appropriate use of recognised safe traffic management systems to ensure the safety of all road users.
