News: Council u-turn as Rotherham cycle lane scheme scrapped
A multimillion pound active travel scheme in Rotherham will not now go ahead, the leader of the council has confirmed.
Rothbiz has previously reported on a £16.5m scheme that includes bike lanes, bus lanes and a built up roundabout at Eastwood, on the edge of Rotherham town centre. A similar £10.7m cycle lane and roundabout scheme is proposed for Stag Roundabout and Wickersley / Broom Road.
The schemes follow on from the £6.4m Sheffield Road Cycleways and Maltby Bus Corridor schemes and the £3.6m Broom Road Cycleways scheme.
After another period of consultation, Rotherham Labour Councillors have now said that the scheme designed for the Broom Road / Wickersley Road proposed Extension Corridor has been scrapped.
Advertisement
Cllr. Chris Read, leader of Rotherham Council, said: "We said at the last council elections that we would only proceed with those schemes where they had the support of the communities most affected and that's why those consultations are really important and we really appreciate your feedback.
"And we've had two different sets of feedback. So for the Broom Road / Moorgate scheme ... residents told us that they didn't support any of the proposals that we were putting forward. The cycle lane, the road crossings or any of the road safety measures.
"So I want to be really clear that when the council brings forward proposals for that we will not be taking forward any of those proposals.
"On the other scheme on Fitzwilliam Road we got broad support from the community for those proposals and when we looked at that more closely there were particular parts of that in some of those side streets, some of the measures to deal with parking, some of the things to do with helping people to cross the road that got more support.
"So we've tasked council staff with looking at that feedback to look at the look at what could be the best scheme that we could take forward in the Fitzwilliam Road area where we keep the benefits of those things for pedestrians in particular but also for parking, and where we might take out those cycle lanes if we don't need to take that forward."
The Eastwood scheme centres on St Ann's Roundabout and replacing the subways with signalised crossings. New street level pedestrian and cycle routes would then be created with new traffic lights with cyclist and pedestrian crossings.
On Fitzwilliam Road, new cycle lanes would be created all the way from St Ann's Roundabout to the fire station. A new bus lane would also be created on the approach to the roundabout.
The scheme is also expected to link to the Rotherham Gateway mainline station at Parkgate.
At Stag Roundabout, segregated cycle routes and controlled crossing facilities would have been introduced on each arm of the roundabout, replacing the current zebra crossings.
The council was considering a number of options for the roads such as a cycle lane to be shared by bikes and buses which would split on the approach to Stag Roundabout. A second option was for a separate bus lane and a separate cycle lane along Wickersley Road, from the junction with Middle Lane South to Stag Roundabout. The third proposal would only introduce a cycle lane, with no bus lane.
For the second option, some trees would need to be removed.
Neighbourhood streets were set for investment in this area too, including Broom Lane where a zebra crossing close to Sitwell school was proposed to be replaced by a controlled traffic signal crossing.
The majority of funding for the latest schemes is coming from the South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority (SYMCA) through the City Regional Sustainable Transport Settlement (CRSTS), a government funding stream.
Rotherham Council website
Images: RMBC
Rothbiz has previously reported on a £16.5m scheme that includes bike lanes, bus lanes and a built up roundabout at Eastwood, on the edge of Rotherham town centre. A similar £10.7m cycle lane and roundabout scheme is proposed for Stag Roundabout and Wickersley / Broom Road.
The schemes follow on from the £6.4m Sheffield Road Cycleways and Maltby Bus Corridor schemes and the £3.6m Broom Road Cycleways scheme.
After another period of consultation, Rotherham Labour Councillors have now said that the scheme designed for the Broom Road / Wickersley Road proposed Extension Corridor has been scrapped.
Advertisement
Cllr. Chris Read, leader of Rotherham Council, said: "We said at the last council elections that we would only proceed with those schemes where they had the support of the communities most affected and that's why those consultations are really important and we really appreciate your feedback.
"And we've had two different sets of feedback. So for the Broom Road / Moorgate scheme ... residents told us that they didn't support any of the proposals that we were putting forward. The cycle lane, the road crossings or any of the road safety measures.
"So I want to be really clear that when the council brings forward proposals for that we will not be taking forward any of those proposals.
"On the other scheme on Fitzwilliam Road we got broad support from the community for those proposals and when we looked at that more closely there were particular parts of that in some of those side streets, some of the measures to deal with parking, some of the things to do with helping people to cross the road that got more support.
"So we've tasked council staff with looking at that feedback to look at the look at what could be the best scheme that we could take forward in the Fitzwilliam Road area where we keep the benefits of those things for pedestrians in particular but also for parking, and where we might take out those cycle lanes if we don't need to take that forward."
The Eastwood scheme centres on St Ann's Roundabout and replacing the subways with signalised crossings. New street level pedestrian and cycle routes would then be created with new traffic lights with cyclist and pedestrian crossings.
On Fitzwilliam Road, new cycle lanes would be created all the way from St Ann's Roundabout to the fire station. A new bus lane would also be created on the approach to the roundabout.
The scheme is also expected to link to the Rotherham Gateway mainline station at Parkgate.
The council was considering a number of options for the roads such as a cycle lane to be shared by bikes and buses which would split on the approach to Stag Roundabout. A second option was for a separate bus lane and a separate cycle lane along Wickersley Road, from the junction with Middle Lane South to Stag Roundabout. The third proposal would only introduce a cycle lane, with no bus lane.
For the second option, some trees would need to be removed.
Neighbourhood streets were set for investment in this area too, including Broom Lane where a zebra crossing close to Sitwell school was proposed to be replaced by a controlled traffic signal crossing.
The majority of funding for the latest schemes is coming from the South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority (SYMCA) through the City Regional Sustainable Transport Settlement (CRSTS), a government funding stream.
Rotherham Council website
Images: RMBC
0 comments:
Post a Comment