Bold plans which will see the closure of roads in Congleton's town centre have been put forward, as efforts to obtain a chunk of emergency Government funding, which would reduce traffic in the town centre throughout the coronavirus pandemic and beyond gather pace.
Government funding of £225m will be available in two phases and Congleton councillor Suzie Akers Smith, who is also Cheshire East's cycling and walking champion, plans to submit the following proposals for Congleton:
- Make High Street one way from Canal Street
- Reverse the one way along Kinsey Street to ease traffic away from the High Street
- Make Mill Street no entry from Antrobus Street
- No through route in Swan Bank and Daisybank Drive to stop traffic nipping through from the A34 when it is congested
Cllr Akers Smith said: "It is an opportunity to remove rat runs and through traffic from your residential areas by blocking roads."
In a letter to walking and cycling groups and town councils across Cheshire East, Cllr Akers Smith has called on them to include the roads they feel should be closed and forward their suggestions to Cheshire East's, Head of Transport, Richard Hibbert.
The department of transport indicated that roads in low traffic neighbourhoods could initially be closed off by using planters.
Her letter added: "The cycling provision will come after this, but as you see, we have to be bold in our requests at this stage.
"To get our schemes noticed under this criteria, state the roads you are proposing are essentially superfluous rat-runs. They are both unofficial alternatives where an official A-road route already exists between the same points. They are unclassified roads and, given the above, should be designated as low traffic neighbourhood routes, blocked to through-traffic by planters."
The first phase of £45m, which Cheshire East could be awarded, will be released as soon as possible so that work can begin at pace on closing roads to through traffic, installing integrated cycle lanes and widening pavements.
In a letter on behalf of the Department of Transport, Rupert Furness, Deputy Director of Active and Accessible Travel wrote to Local Transport Officers, stating: "We have a window of opportunity to act now to embed walking and cycling as part of new long-term commuting habits and reap the associated health, air quality and congestion benefits.
"Anything that does not meet the status quo on the road will not be funded."
The second phase of £180 million will be released later in July/August to enable authorities to install further, more permanent measures to cement cycling and walking habits.
Cllr Akers Smith added: "Only those Local Authorities that have demonstrated ambition in phase one will get further access. Those that wasted money in phase on will have to pay it back. This is when we will get the funding for cycle provision."
This comes after Congleton Town Council supported six recommendations of the town's Integrated Transport Group, chaired by Cllr Akers Smith, for temporary and experimental changes to make Congleton safer whilst social distancing is required due to Covid-19 and to give confidence for more people to come into the town.
The recommendations, which were supported at last Thursday's town council meeting will be sent to Cheshire East Highways as initial requests included:
- 20mph Town Centre zone to make Congleton town centre a safer and more pleasant environment for all.
- Broadhurst Lane, off Clayton Bypass to become a 10mph zone due to its extreme narrowness and route to a business hub.
- Recommend that pavements are widened or pedestrian passing points introduced in the following areas:
a) Mill Street - pavements widened where possible plus loading and disabled bay added in the wide area by the bus stop
b) Swan Bank – pedestrian passing points introduced which will mean reducing some of parking bays to provide refuges for pedestrians
c) West Street – Highways to explore pavements widening on both sides of the road where possible but to the Waggs Road side if only one side possible - especially from the town centre to the car park.
d) High Street - bus stop temporarily moved to the bus station in Market Street. Pedestrian passing points introduced which will mean losing some parking spaces.
e) Market Street - widen the footpath running alongside Morrisons and B&M – work with Highways on what would be possible ensuring adequate turning circles for buses and access to the yard by Morrisons for delivery vehicles.
f) Lawton Street - create pedestrian passing points, which will need some reduction of the parking space.
- Mountbatten Way Traffic Lights – introduce advance cyclist stop line (similar to Park Lane) to make it a safer route around the town for cyclists.
- Introduce appropriate signage throughout the town centre to remind town centre users of social distancing.
- May need to be some reallocation of space within the pedestrian area – such as recommending to Highways that Victoria Potatoes can have an alternative pitch to Victoria Street to enable social distancing, or alterations to the Alfresco policy. These will be on a case by case basis for officers to discuss with Highways.
Congleton Town Council also approved to ask Cheshire East to investigate the principle and promotion of one-way walking routes around the town.
It was noted by the town council that all measures should be reviewed at least every three months.
