We welcome Sheffield Councils ambitious trialling of a Low Traffic Neighbourhood in Kelham Island and protected cycle lanes on the ring road at Shalesmoor.
It is vital that safe and attractive space for cycling is created to enable more people to cycle, especially given the impact of CV19 on public transport.
We urge the council to make both schemes permanent but if that is not possible the council should retain the one with the widest benefits and highest usage.
The trial schemes should not be removed if this impacts negatively on Sheffield’s ability to bid for the next tranche of Emergency Active Travel Funding.
The trials should be kept in place for as long as possible to evaluate their impact.
If the temporary protected cycle lanes are removed from Shalesmoor these should be trialled in other areas of the city.
We urge Sheffield Council to discuss future schemes with us before implementing them – we think some of the issues/concerns could have been avoided.
Removal of Shalesmoor cycle lanes:
If the Shalesmoor lanes are going to be removed then the Kelham Island filtering must be made permanent. We would like to see a number of further improvements including:
- removal of some car parking
- more cycle stands/parking
- more seating/parklets especially outside pubs/cafes/restaurants
- better crossings/links across the IRR (Russell St > Gibralter St and Bowling Green St > Allen St) to make it more useful as a through route for cycling
- better signage for people cycling to/from/through the area
Kelham island scheme good for pedestrians and cyclists.
Shalesmoor scheme is a total disaster .
To create roads which should have eased vehicle traffic on a major arterial road and then to block one lane is ridiculous.
This road carries much traffic around the city centre.
It is not a route which is of use to most cyclists for either commuting or leisure.
Bite the bullet and scrap it quickly
Communication about the schemes are also lacking. There should be some signage in these places to explain the changes and promote the scheme as well as asking people to support. It’s a missed opportunity.