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budgets City Region

Sustainable Transport Money (£450,000) on Road Widening: Doncaster’s Herten Way 2 Way Scheme

The Sheffield City Region Sustainable Transport Exemplar Programme is funding car parks and cycle lanes where parking is allowed. Previously the Local Sustainable Transport Fund paid to widen a trunk road roundabout. The latest questionable scheme is in Doncaster and is widening a road to convert it from 1 way to 2 way with the aim of alleviating motor traffic congestion and encouraging new retail shops to be built.

The proposed scheme will convert Herten Way into a two way road which will help to alleviate traffic congestion issues with ASDA in particular but also make an existing piece of development land more attractive for investment as access will be greatly improved.

From the Scheme brief document

 

The schemes general arrangement drawing is available here.

The original design included an unsegregated shared use footway/cycleway, however even that was dropped from the design before the scheme was built. The shared use footway was the token sustainable transport part of this scheme, but even that minimal cycling facility was never built.

Following consultation with the Council’s cycling Transport Planners it has been decided that the length of footway along Herten Way will not be shared with cyclists at this time. Tactile provision will be amended accordingly. At such time as further development occurs in the area the cycling facilities will be reconsidered.

From the Road Safety Audit

A new toucan crossing was built, at a cost of probably no more than £100,000 (guestimated), but the signals were required to facilitate the new turning movement at the junction because traffic is now 2 way, the junction was previously unsignalled.

Questions must be asked about the governance of the Sheffield City Region Sustainable Transport Exemplar Programme given some of the schemes that it is funding. This scheme cost £450,000 in total. Funds like these should go to creating well designed cycle infrastructure, not shared use pavements, not road widening, and not converting 1 way roads to 2 way at an out of town retail park.

The road safety audit provides a good insight into how the scheme has been designed.

The raised plateaux is intended as an aid to pedestrians crossing the carriageway rather than a traffic calming feature such as a road hump. As such the approach and exit ramps will be installed with a shallow gradient <1:20. The ramp areas will also be treated with red coloured surfacing and a set of warning triangles which the Designers feels would be sufficient warning to approaching drivers and would highlight the presence of pedestrians.

This is the freedom of information request where this information is from.

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City Region

Sheffield City Region Devolution – What does it mean for cycling?

logo-960Today George Osborne has announced details of a new devolution deal for the Sheffield City Region. What does this mean for cycling and transport ?

Highlights are more control over transport budgets, franchised bus services and strategic planning, as well as a new mayor who will chair the Sheffield City Region Combined Authority.

The Combined Authority already has responsibility for delivering large transport projects (amongst other things), however it looks like they will take control of some strategic roads via a new Key Route Network of local authority roads which will be managed at a regional level.

Responsibility over the region’s transport budget, with a multi-year settlement to be agreed at the Spending Review

Responsibility for franchised bus services, which will support the Combined Authority’s delivery of smart and integrated ticketing across its councils

Responsibility for an identified Key Route Network of local authority roads that will be collaboratively managed and maintained at the city region level by the Combined Authority on behalf of the Mayor

Powers over strategic planning

This all sounds very similar to the situation in London with Transport for London being headed up by the Mayor of London, the ability for TfL to franchise bus services, managing a strategic network of key roads and strategic planning. There will be lots of involvement of the private business sector as there is with TfL (this already happens at a Sheffield City Region level).

I think that TfL and the Mayoral leadership have been good at delivering for cycling (comparatively compared to area’s outside of London). We don’t know exactly what the future holds, but we’ve said for a long time that we’d like the same level of control (and investment) that London has with transport and funding, perhaps we’re now on that path in Sheffield.

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