Consultation opens on Nottingham active travel schemes

Temporary signs at Victoria Embankment

People are being invited to have their say on schemes designed to encourage walking and cycling in the city, to increase sustainable travel and support a green recovery from Covid-19.

Nottingham City Council successfully bid for £2 million from the Government’s Active Travel Fund last year, and the council is now inviting people to comment on proposals for a number of schemes.

They include proposals to make permanent the trial closure to through traffic on Victoria Embankment, and to introduce a 20mph speed limit across the city centre.

Additional schemes aim to deter cut-through traffic and create quieter, safer neighbourhoods in parts of the city including the Arboretum and Sherwood, and improve pedestrian and cycle links in Derby Road and Low Wood Road.

The council is also proposing to make permanent several of the School Streets measures that were trialled last year. These restrict vehicles from entering the streets immediately outside schools, creating more space and a safer environment for parents, carers and children.

Portfolio Holder for Transport, Councillor Adele Williams, said: “Encouraging active travel, making it easier and more attractive, is so important. There are many benefits to walking or cycling – it’s good for health, improved well-being, reduced congestion and better air quality. By taking shorter car journeys off the road, we can all help to cut carbon emissions too.

“The numerous lockdowns and restrictions over the last 12 months have also shown us how valuable it is to have green spaces and safe, quiet neighbourhoods to spend time in.

“We received a lot of responses to the trial schemes last year, on what worked well, and what didn’t work so well, and this has played a big role in shaping the proposals we’re consulting on now. We want to know what people think, and I’d encourage everyone to take this opportunity to have their say, especially if there is a scheme in their local area.”

The proposals under consultation are:

  • To make permanent the trial closure of Victoria Embankment to through traffic
  • To introduce a 20mph speed limit in Nottingham city centre
  • To introduce measures at several locations in Sherwood and Berridge to deter cut-through traffic
  • Measures to improve road safety and pedestrian and cycle links in Derby Road, and on Low Wood Road
  • To introduce measures in the Arboretum to deter cut-through traffic
  • Improvements to pedestrian and cycle routes in St Ann’s Well Road
  • To make permanent School Streets schemes across the city.

People need to respond by Monday 5 April. Following this, responses will be reviewed and schemes developed, with further opportunities to comment before they are delivered later this year.

For more information on the various schemes and to comment, visit www.keepnottinghammoving.commonplace.is