News: £26m allocated for new Rotherham cycle schemes
The latest schemes aimed at improving options for public transport, walking, wheeling and cycling in Rotherham will cost around £26m, according to the latest update from transport bosses at Rotherham Council.
Consultation for a scheme in the Eastwood area began in October with the proposals for the installation of new bus lanes and cycle lanes to create a sustainable transport corridor incorporating Fitzwilliam Road and St Ann's Roundabout.
Last month, consultation began on a similar scheme for the Moorgate and Broom area which is also set to address issues at Stag roundabout.
Matthew Reynolds, Head of Transportation Infrastructure Service at Rotherham Council, recently updated elected members on the new projects, saying that £16m had been allocated for the Eastwood scheme and around £10m allocated for the Moorgate and Broom Network Improvements.
The funding is coming from the City Region Sustainable Transport Settlements (CRSTS), £570m from the government to the region to bring significant improvements to South Yorkshire’s transport system.
For the Eastwood scheme, the biggest change proposed is for St Ann's Roundabout, where the council is proposing to bring the crossings up to ground level and fill in the subways to make the space feel more welcoming. For Fitzwilliam Road the plan is to provide bus priority and separate cycleways.
A bus lane in the Rotherham-bound direction would make bus services faster and more reliable and the bus lane at Mushroom roundabout would be extended to Chesterton Road. Painted cycle lanes are set to be replaced with dedicated cycle tracks to separate cyclists from motor traffic and improve safety and new designated parking spaces are also included.
£4.6m has been set aside for additional ideas proposed by the community for improvements in the neighbourhoods - streetlighting, road resurfacing, new crossings, addressing parking issues around the local schools.
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The Broom Road / Wickersley Corridor Sustainable Transport Scheme includes work at Stag roundabout, sustainable travel measures on Wickersley Road, the extension of the recently completed Broom Road cycleway, and an Active Travel Scheme in the Moorgate area.
A segregated footway and cycle route is planned from the existing scheme at Clifton Roundabout, through to Brecks roundabout.
Matthew Reynolds explained that the cycle scheme at Eastwood was a very difficult scheme. He said: "It is probably going to be more difficult to deliver than any other scheme we have on the books at the moment."
The council confirmed that there are issues at St Ann's Roundabout such as the subways and for bus operators. There are also some "considerable implications" in the area such as utilities in the middle of the roundabout and that run down Fitzwilliam Road. Flooding and disruption during the works were also being taken into account.
Reynolds added: "We are working really closely with the community, as much as we can, to understand what the concerns are and how we can improve the project. We are at the absolute first stage of feasability - there is plenty of time to shape it and plenty of time to work with people. Ultimately, we want to do that because we want something that everybody understands and buys into, and can see the bigger picture as to why we are doing these kind of schemes."
The funding deadline for the £16m project is March 2027 and Galliford Try Construction Ltd is working on the scheme.
For the other scheme, Reynolds discussed the issues with the zebra crossings at the Stag roundabout adding that: "It is an opportunity to bring improvements to the Stag - we can do some public realm work for example, bring some planting and greening, benches - that neighbourhood focus on the shops and amenities that are there."
The completion deadline in the current programme for the £10m project is January 2027. Esh Councstruction has signed up to deliver the scheme.
Reynolds added: "Again we are at the very early stages of consultation and engagement so we want to hear everyone's views on this."
RMBC consultation website
Images: RMBC / Google Maps
Consultation for a scheme in the Eastwood area began in October with the proposals for the installation of new bus lanes and cycle lanes to create a sustainable transport corridor incorporating Fitzwilliam Road and St Ann's Roundabout.
Last month, consultation began on a similar scheme for the Moorgate and Broom area which is also set to address issues at Stag roundabout.
Matthew Reynolds, Head of Transportation Infrastructure Service at Rotherham Council, recently updated elected members on the new projects, saying that £16m had been allocated for the Eastwood scheme and around £10m allocated for the Moorgate and Broom Network Improvements.
The funding is coming from the City Region Sustainable Transport Settlements (CRSTS), £570m from the government to the region to bring significant improvements to South Yorkshire’s transport system.
For the Eastwood scheme, the biggest change proposed is for St Ann's Roundabout, where the council is proposing to bring the crossings up to ground level and fill in the subways to make the space feel more welcoming. For Fitzwilliam Road the plan is to provide bus priority and separate cycleways.
A bus lane in the Rotherham-bound direction would make bus services faster and more reliable and the bus lane at Mushroom roundabout would be extended to Chesterton Road. Painted cycle lanes are set to be replaced with dedicated cycle tracks to separate cyclists from motor traffic and improve safety and new designated parking spaces are also included.
£4.6m has been set aside for additional ideas proposed by the community for improvements in the neighbourhoods - streetlighting, road resurfacing, new crossings, addressing parking issues around the local schools.
Advertisement
The Broom Road / Wickersley Corridor Sustainable Transport Scheme includes work at Stag roundabout, sustainable travel measures on Wickersley Road, the extension of the recently completed Broom Road cycleway, and an Active Travel Scheme in the Moorgate area.
A segregated footway and cycle route is planned from the existing scheme at Clifton Roundabout, through to Brecks roundabout.
Matthew Reynolds explained that the cycle scheme at Eastwood was a very difficult scheme. He said: "It is probably going to be more difficult to deliver than any other scheme we have on the books at the moment."
The council confirmed that there are issues at St Ann's Roundabout such as the subways and for bus operators. There are also some "considerable implications" in the area such as utilities in the middle of the roundabout and that run down Fitzwilliam Road. Flooding and disruption during the works were also being taken into account.
Reynolds added: "We are working really closely with the community, as much as we can, to understand what the concerns are and how we can improve the project. We are at the absolute first stage of feasability - there is plenty of time to shape it and plenty of time to work with people. Ultimately, we want to do that because we want something that everybody understands and buys into, and can see the bigger picture as to why we are doing these kind of schemes."
The funding deadline for the £16m project is March 2027 and Galliford Try Construction Ltd is working on the scheme.
The completion deadline in the current programme for the £10m project is January 2027. Esh Councstruction has signed up to deliver the scheme.
Reynolds added: "Again we are at the very early stages of consultation and engagement so we want to hear everyone's views on this."
RMBC consultation website
Images: RMBC / Google Maps
62 comments:
Would anyone be brave enough to cycle through Eastwood?
The cost of this scheme will be a lot more than £26m when you factor in the impact of businesses shutting up shop. Yet those figures and costs have never been a material consideration.
RMBC should be doing everything it possibly can to bring people back into Rotherham, not making the town centre more difficult to access.
Please, Rotherham Council don't go ahead with this scheme.
What a waste of money, people hardly use the existing lanes let alone this!
Put the money to better use like proper pot hole repairs!
The cycle lanes would be filled with old sofas and soiled mattresses by the end of the first day.
There'll be people from Wickersley snapping them up
Not to mention the improper ones
I'd feel safer cycling through Eastwood than walking through the Tanyard.
This proposed scheme must go ahead.
You missed the word NOT
Sorry
The proposed scheme must go ahead. Note
Another good news story. The town is on the up. Well done to all involved.
You think this is good news?
It's a fact that cycle lanes on Broom Lane caused business in Rotherham to close and move out of town. There's already the first casualty of this scheme in All Types Electric closing down (and yes, I have it on fairly good authority that the cycle lanes were a factor in their decision to shut).
Another 18-24 months or so of disruption and delay. The main route to Parkgate shut down.. and for what?
Fewer visitors, lower footfall, empty, unused and frankly unsafe cycle lanes and yet another reason not to visit Rotherham.
It wouldn't surprise me if this scheme didn't just impact on Town Centre businesses, but we start seeing an exodus from Retail World too.
In other news, the Government has announced today a mission to finally start putting money into potholes, so if road improvements was the reason for signing off this daft scheme, then yet again RMBC appears to be backing the wrong horse.
This message is not directed at everyone but specifically at those who incessantly complain about everything out of ignorance and a resistance to progress.
If work is carried out, it’s criticised; if it isn’t, it’s still unacceptable. If it’s done in one area, it’s wrong; in another, it’s still wrong. These pub-level discussions achieve nothing. Perhaps it’s time to retreat into your monotonous lives and stop obstructing those who are genuinely trying to bring about meaningful change.
So lots of positives then.
Well said
All those who are in favour are wind up merchants or don’t have a grasp of reality and are very much deluded!
Funny that when giving their reasons to close down in an Advertiser interview the family did not mention cycle lane developments. Perhaps you are embellishing to suit your own narrative.
Totally agree with the comment about those incessantly complaining. It is good to see investment in the future of Rotherham. Some may not agree with the changes but you can't stand in the way of progress.
You have articulated what many feel is the debilitating negativity expressed by a few people who will never be appreciative of change whatever the outcome.
When good things happen to Rotherham, I'll be the first to praise them. I was pleased when Forge Island (finally) opened. It's arguably 15 years too late, but I do hope that the scheme is a success and I think the council should, at the very least, be applauded for delivering on their promise to bringing a cinema back to Rotherham.
I'm also watching on with interest to see what will happen with the market development. If this is akin to the Glassworks or Doncaster Market, then it could also be really good and genuinely exciting asset for the town.
But for every half decent project, there's an ill thought out pocket park, or cycle lane lingering in the background.
Re: Cycle lanes. I just don't understand the argument. It seems to be built around the idea that if we have cycle lanes, more people will visit the town centre. This seems to be a really strange logic. I've never seen anything published anywhere that can justify this bold claim.
The Broom Rd scheme was reported as being unviable from day one, yet it was pushed through by RMBC. SYMCA raised concerns about it, but decided to support the council. Curiously RMBC doesn't appear to have published the volume of cyclists this attracts to date (possibly because they couldn't find m/any)... I am looking forward to reading this research when and indeed if it's published.
With the latest one, the consultation is clearly rigged to push the council's bizarre agenda. The questions doesn't have a shred of objectivity in it which means that the case for cycle lanes will be built around questions posed about road safety. Add into that the trees which will lost, narrower roads to navigate and the net result is a town centre which is more difficult to access, fewer visitors, fewer jobs leading to the inevitable business closures.
£26 million to cause yet more misery with little in return, doesn't strike me as the actions of a progressive or forward thinking local authority. It strikes me as a desperate cash grab - take the money on the table and worry about the consequences later.
I doubt the number of businesses which have already closed and jobs lost has ever been a material consideration when the powers that be consider these schemes. Similarly, I've yet to see any survey from businesses where cycle lanes was their number one concern.
I am more than happy to be proved wrong - but I cannot see any possible situation where the benefits of adopting this scheme will outweigh the inherent problems with it.
However, in the interests of fairness if someone can correct me on the economic benefits investing the £26 million will bring to the town, rather just resorting to "stop being so negative" then I am more than happy to listen to the counter argument.
Twice you state that you would be more than happy to be proved wrong. You strike me as a man who thinks he's never wrong.
You comment that the argument is that more cycle lanes will increase visitors to the town centre, yet this is not mentioned in the article. The aim is to provide sustainable transport infrastructure which this will achieve.
It will provide the infrastructure but do you genuinely believe a large enough percentage of the Rotherham population will use it enough to make it worth while?
I'm very very surprised that more hasn't been made of the safety issues particularly on Westgate,I never seen such a confusing road layout,god knows which primary school designed it.I very narrowly avoided an head on collision only last week.Only a matter of time before there's a major incident and possibly fatality,heads will roll then!
Couldn't agree more with this. Why does the council hate the town centre so much?
For goodness sake, how did some of you people pass your driving tests?
All you have to do in Westgate is follow the instructions on the road signs and drive with care and consideration. The cycle lanes are PERMISSIVE. So if you meet an oncoming vehicle, both of you move over into the cycle lanes, if it is safe to do so, and then vacate the cycle lanes once you have passed.
"Only narrowly missed a head on collision"
What speed were you doing? Sounds like some poor driving going on to me.
AnonymousDecember 22, 2024 at 5:28 AM
&
AnonymousDecember 22, 2024 at 10:50 AM
You are the same person, Stop trying to big up your posts!
You do see some daft things while you're out and about that's for sure.
I use that stretch of road every day and can't see why some drivers have issues with it.
I also had a nasty experience on Westgate the other day. I was turning right into the road behind the New York Tavern, a taxi came powering round the same corner (seemingly oblivious to other road users), from the same junction. The layout means that for the taxi to left, and for me to turn right, we are expected to occupy the same bit of road. This is effectively a blind corner, and the new road layout has effectively created a problem that wasn't there previously.
Stop trying to big up your posts by pretending to tell yourself to stop bigging up your posts.
I've uses the road several times and never had an issue. As others have commented the issue appears to drivers who can't follow instructions.
AnonymousDecember 22, 2024 at 5:28 AM
&
AnonymousDecember 22, 2024 at 10:50 AM
Rumbled -JEZ
Do you mean they've put rumble strips on that stretch of road as well. Tut, will this madness never end?
The 10.50 one could have been me but at 5.28 I was on the dart board with my third pint in the County.
The multi spotter would never get away with posting as a multi because of his poor sentence construction and punctuation. Or is he just pretending to be inept to throw us off the scent? They seek him here, they seek.....
Signing your posts won't help in your bid to remain illiterately anonymous JEZ.
I AM JEZ!!!
Someone's telling porkies Jez. The County doesn't open until 6 am.
That's taxi drivers for you. Think they own the roads. Bet it was Martini.
It was an all nighter by special invitation and only available to regulars and South Yorkshire Constabulary.
Yes but that's the issue, it doesn't matter if you can follow instructions, you still might end up dead if the person coming the other way can't. They've created a potential problem that wasn't there before.
I’m Spartacus
The very best Christmas wishes to those Rothbiz posters who can't spell, can't punctuate and can't string two sentences together. To those Little Englanders yearning for the lost days of empire when the only boat people to be found in Rotherham were on Clifton Park paddling pool. To the Hooters, Wetherspoons and County officionados who merely want to spend the day in their pyjamas quaffing cheap beer. To the malcontents who believe that RMBC Council never has and never will do anything right. To all of you sincere seasonal greetings.
Oh, and best wishes to you too Jez, however many of you there may be.
You know where you can stick your Christmas wishes.
Only a complete moron would post something like that !
Keep a look out for four ghosts over Christmas Eb.
The Christmas Eve wishes perfectly sums up the majority of posters on this site. Well done sir.
You would say that, it was probably you who posted them in the first place.
You wrote it
Looking forward to reading New Year's wishes from our posters. Let me start by wishing all our businesses in Rotherham a happy and prosperous New Year.
Because anyone who disagreed with you must be the same person LOL What a strange world view you have
Not anyone, just you.
Hopefully 2025 will see the other restaurants at Forge Island occupied, and along with Loungers this will be an even bigger success. The posters can then move on to commenting how they don't/won't visit due to the cost, not their type of place, 3 times the price of a greasy spoon in Barnsley, not British enough etc.
I agree with you even though you know who will claim that I am Mark agreeing with himself.
It must be clear to everyone that Mark and Jez are one and the same.
Let's hope 2025 brings less of the anonymous arguing with themselves
Well, there are at least two of us who know that isn't so.
Sorry, can't agree with that Mark.
Completely agree mate
Well I can.
Tear down trees to make way for a cycle lane that few people are likely to use. What a waste of money.
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