Have your say on travel schemes
Walking and cycling routes in Bath are set to be improved after the city council secured government funding of half a million pounds.
Bath and North East Somerset Council has launched a consultation for two schemes, which could see cycling and pedestrian improvements to the A4 Upper Bristol Road and from the city centre to Bath University along North Road using Active Travel funding.
An additional improvement scheme, from Combe Down to Bath University, is also out for consultation. This is funded separately from the council’s Transport Improvement programme.
Active Travel funding was launched in May 2020 by the Department for Transport in response to the coronavirus pandemic as the country came out of the first lockdown.
The first round of funding was used by the council for temporary highway schemes to aid social distancing and help enable more journeys to be taken by walking and cycling by reallocating road space.
A second round of funding was for permanent schemes focused on providing an alternative to journeys that people may previously have been taken on public transport and also to help enable more people to walk and cycle for short, local trips.
Through the West of England Combined Authority (Weca), the council submitted a successful bid to the Department for Transport for Active Travel funding.
This money will go towards three schemes.
The A4 Upper Bristol Road scheme proposes to install new cycle lanes that are separate from motor traffic, between Midland Road and Charlotte Street.
Road crossings will be prioritised for those on foot. A section of onstreet parking bays will need to be removed and some of these will be re-provided nearby.
The city centre to Bath University scheme proposes a new continuous cycle route using new lanes separated from motor traffic along Beckford Road, an experimental closure of North Road as well as offroad cycle lanes.
Some on-street parking will need to be re-provided nearby.
The Combe Down to University of Bath scheme proposes to provide safe pedestrian and cycle crossings on both Bathwick Hill and Widcombe Hill at their junctions with Copseland.
Future improvements are planned that would link with these proposals as part of wider plans to provide better continuous cycle routes and give more priority to people walking and using public transport.
Cllr Joanna Wright, joint cabinet member for transport services, said: “We have been awarded £500,000 government funding which is coming through the West of England Combined Authority to be spent on Active Travel routes.
“If we don’t use our share of the money by March 2022, we will lose it and so we are proposing the three schemes.”
The council is inviting views from people who live, work and travel in these areas. The online consultation runs until March 21 and can be viewed at https://beta.bathnes.gov. uk/active-travel-schemes.