I have written to the Transport Minister to throw my full support behind a Council Bid to fund more sustainable travel in Scunthorpe. It would be great to see more connectivity between the town centre and the rest of Scunthorpe, leading to more footfall for our businesses, and this bid would make travel much easier for everyone.
We are bidding for funding from the government's 'Active Travel Fund', which was established during the height of the pandemic to encourage more sustainable and Covid-secure means of transport. We have already had a successful bid, and I will continue to lobby the Minister to fund these plans.
Plans include widening the painted cycle lane down Ashby Road and securing it with a physically segregated cycle path along the length of the route in both directions. This will consist of bolt down style kerbs, complete with reflective flexi style wands. Trials have shown that by adding the infrastructure, this will lead to an obvious reduction in vehicle speeds.
To accompany the easier connection to the town centre, new cycle parking would be created in the multi-storey car park in the centre of Scunthorpe. This sheltered, CCTV-supervised proposal will encourage people to use an alternate method to driving when travelling to the centre, and there will even be stands for three wheelers, tandems, recumbents and other “non-standard” cycles.
Finally, our bid will add parallel crossings in three locations: Messingham Road in Scunthorpe, A18 in Brigg and A1077 in Barton upon Humber. Again, residents’ understandable worries about busy roads will hopefully be lessened with these crossings, leading to improved pedestrian connectivity and safety to retail areas.
The Council has already used this government fund to create new cycle lanes in Scunthorpe. These cycle-lanes have now been put in place on Laneham Street, Shelford Street, Frances Street and elsewhere to segregate cyclists from vehicles and make people feel safer when riding. This is on top of new footways and crossways being introduced in busy areas, like Mary Street and Frances Street, in response to feedback from residents that busy roads deter them from travelling to the town centre.
I am now backing the Council’s bid to build on these measures in Phase 2. To create a ‘Sustainable Scunthorpe’, we want to build on existing plans to redevelop the town centre by connecting the rest of Scunthorpe more easily, and this is what our new bid will do.
You can read more about these new plans in my letter.