Active Travel Fund Measures

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School streets

Background

To aid the country’s recovery as Covid-19 restrictions were eased, the Government announced an Emergency Active Travel Fund to help council’s introduce measures to re-allocate road space for cyclists and pedestrians and encourage people to walk and use a bike more.

The City Council was successful in securing funds to trial a range of traffic measures, which will support the phased economic recovery for Nottingham.

Tranche 1

The City Council received £570,000 through the EATF to spend on introducing temporary measures to make space safer and more attractive for active travel. These projects centred around five ambitions:

1. Develop new routes in the north and east of the city
2. Create a safer city centre, district centres and neighbourhoods
3. Create car-free school streets
4. Improve access to green spaces – including Victoria Embankment
5. Promote and maximise use of the new schemes through supporting measures

In addition, we launched an interactive website inviting suggestions from residents on areas where we could make improvements.

Tranche 2

The second round of funding available is designed to support further temporary schemes, and also longer term, permanent measures. Following a bid outlining further schemes, the City Council was awarded a further £2m from the Government, in November 2020.
These schemes include:

Develop new routes in the north and east of the city

• Carlton Road/Porchester Road – Build on measures introduced in Tranche 1 (segregated cycling facilities, temporary crossings and a quiet, signed route), to include more protected space for cyclists
• A60 Mansfield Road and London Road – Extend provision for cyclists along the length of Mansfield Road to the city boundary. This links in with a proposal for a low traffic neighbourhood in the Sherwood/Berridge area
• St Ann’s Well Road – Upgrade existing traffic calming features, helping to enforce the 20mph speed limit

Create a safer city centre, district centres and neighbourhoods

• A6200 Derby Road – Upgrade crossing to connect routes created in Tranche 1 with Nottingham’s wider cycle network, including access to the University of Nottingham and the QMC, and make permanent measures to create a low traffic environment in adjacent streets
• Arboretum Low Traffic Neighbourhood –introduce 11 one-way closures to vehicles, to reduce cut-through driving and create a quieter environment for walking and cycling
• City centre 20mph zone – Introduce a 20mph speed limit in the city centre to create a safer environment

Create car-free school streets

• Expand car-free school streets scheme – further trials and explore whether to make current trials permanent

Improve access to green spaces

• Victoria Embankment – The funding would be used to provide a permanent barrier system, offering the flexibility to close the road for events or for longer periods, subject to the success of the current trial

Promote and maximise use of the new schemes through supporting measures

• E-scooters trial
• Pop-up community cycle centres – Deliver cycle training in local parks, included tuition, bike maintenance and guided rides
• Broad Marsh Cycle Hub – Develop a 120-space secure cycle parking facility in the city centre
• Nottingham Bike Aid – Further support for this important initiative which will be extended from key workers to also include jobseekers and people that are most in need in areas where we are improving cycling facilities.

These proposals will be subject to the necessary approvals, detailed scheme design, consultation, safety audits and equality impact assessments.

The schemes and measures put forward draw upon priorities identified in the Local Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plan (LCWIP), and will complement the work we have begun to deliver through the Transforming Cities Fund.

The full bid, and additional documents including our Consultation Report, can be found on Nottingham Insight.