Derby City Council will receive a massive £228,000 to introduce Covid-19 emergency transport measures across the city, following a successful bid to Government last month.
The successful ‘Moving Derby Forward’ programme, initially put forward £204,000 of proposals to help support cycling and walking.
The measures being introduced include large scale segregated cycle lanes on London Road and Uttoxeter Road, radical changes to traffic in the city centre, and the re-direction of traffic in Darley Abbey and Spondon. All of the measures are designed to have a high impact and support pedestrians and cyclists, whilst creating more space for social distancing.
Areas such as The Spot, Albert Street, Victoria Street and Wardwick will become one-way, with road space reallocated. Corporation Street will only be open for buses, taxis, cyclists and pedestrians.
Church Lane at Darley Abbey will be closed to traffic turning in from the A6 Duffield Road, except for cyclists. Pedestrian access will be maintained. A significant section of Church Lane does not have a footway on both sides, so a temporary footway space will be created, which will narrow the road. The aim is to reduce traffic and reduce speeds and create a quieter space, make it more friendly for active travel, and for accessing the park, and the various cycle routes in the area. It is also proposed that the quieter environment will benefit the two schools in the area. Traffic signals are also currently planned for the junction of Duffield Road and Mile Ash Lane, to provide better access and egress for Darley Abbey residents.
In Spondon, there will be a re-direction of traffic and reallocation of road to create better footways to link two areas of the village centre.
All of the measures will be implemented using temporary traffic management equipment and using the emergency Covid 19 traffic regulation order powers. Having received positive feedback, funding is expected imminently, and work will now take place to finalise the details. Work needs to begin within four weeks, and further details will be published before the works are implemented. The Council will then have just eight weeks to put all the measures in place.
It is expected that there will be a further round of funding for additional measures.
Councillor Matthew Holmes, Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Regeneration, Planning, and Transportation said:
There is no doubt that Covid-19 has presented many challenges, and this successful bid gives us an opportunity to support the uptake of active travel and make some positive environmental changes. It is very encouraging that we have received more than what was originally bid for. The Moving Derby Forward project is part of a wider ambition for re-energising Derby, and to ensure that the city emerges from the crisis in ways that meet the new challenges. The measures put forward, had to have impact and scale. Covid-19 has changed many perceptions about the way we live, work and travel, and whilst these measures may well have been controversial to some road users, in a pre-Covid world, the Council has taken a balanced approach, and we are keen to take this opportunity to move Derby forward. The measures will be reviewed every three months, and may be changed or made permanent. If further funding is made available, then, as suggested before, I would like local Councillors to look at these initial measures and consider what could be proposed in the local areas they represent.