£50m transport cash bid
EAST Lancashire is in line for a raft of public transport improvements and measures to make cycling and walking more attractive - if a £50m bid to the government’s Levelling Up Fund is successful.
Lancashire County Council is in the final stages of drawing up a submission to secure the cash from a nationwide pot which was established to finance projects designed to reduce inequalities between different parts of the country.
If the money comes Lancashire’s way, Rossendale, Hyndburn, Burnley, and Pendle will benefit from schemes which could include offering bus passengers real-time journey information while they are waiting at bus stops, and the creation of new cycling routes.
Although details are still being finalised, a meeting of the authority’s cabinet heard the focus will be on three thematic projects to upgrade public transport facilities, promote active travel by encouraging cycling and walking and to develop so-called “liveable neighbourhoods”.
Cabinet member for highways and transport Charlie Edwards said the idea of that concept was to create communities where people could “go to work, go to school, go to [their] GP [and] go to the shop[s] within a 20-minute or halfan-hour journey where you maybe don’t need to use your car all the time [and] where you can hop onto a cycle path or you just live in a better-designed place”.
Specific schemes are likely to include the installation of 115 priority bus stops, featuring up-to-theminute information displays and audio announcements - similar to those found at railway stations while 20 traffic light-controlled junctions on key bus routes will be fitted with “intelligent priority” technology to help speed journeys.
Meanwhile, eight cycling and walking corridors will benefit from footpath widening, shared and segregated cycle and pedestrian provision, surface upgrades and new controlled crossing points. Similar improvements - along with secure cycle parking and new lighting, seating and planting - will be made within eight neighbourhood areas.
Four new mobility hubs will also be created to facilitate shifts between public transport and active travel options within the same journey. The facilities will boast a minimum of secure cycle storage, ticketing information, seating, shelter, lighting and CCTV - and there is the potential for them also to include delivery lockers, cycle repair workshops and electric vehicle charging points.
The county council’s cabinet has committed to the authority providing £5m of match funding to create an overall £55m package although attempts will be made to secure some of the additional cash from third parties.
The government will assess Levelling Up Fund bids according to a variety of criteria, including public benefit and the degree to which they support efforts to hit net-zero carbon goals.
It is not known when an announcement will be made about which round 2 bids have been successful, but Lancashire County Council is working on the basis that it is likely to come during the Chancellor’s budget in the autumn.