Question
One small positive to come out of lockdown has been seeing the huge numbers of people of all ages out cycling, walking and running on the quieter, cleaner and less congested roads.
It is great that in the past the Council has committed to active transport as shown by the ongoing completion of the Borough’s section of the Newbury to Windsor cycle route.
Increasing levels of walking and cycling can help the Council meet its commitment to go carbon neutral by 2030 as well as keeping it at the top of the healthiest and best places to live in the UK, not to mention boosting local economies and reducing traffic congestion and travel times for those driving or travelling by bus.
In view of this, what specific plans does the Council have to nurture the recent enthusiasm for cycling and walking?
Minutes:
Question
One small positive to come out of lock down has been seeing the huge numbers of people of all ages out cycling, walking and running on the quieter, cleaner and less congested roads.
It is great that in the past the Council has committed to active transport as shown by the ongoing completion of the Borough’s section of the Newbury to Windsor cycle route.
Increasing levels of walking and cycling can help the Council meet its commitment to go carbon neutral by 2030 as well as keeping it at the top of the healthiest and best places to live in the UK not to mention boosting local economies and reducing traffic congestion and travel times for those driving or travelling by bus.
In view of this, what specific plans does the Council have to nurture the recent enthusiasm for cycling and walking?
Answer
I have noticed a lot more people out on bicycles going past my house since the lockdown, which is great to see. The Department for Transport have made £225m available for active travel measures to support recovery from the current crisis; for Wokingham Borough this means we could qualify for up to £759k. There are plans for temporary measures around Wokingham Town Centre which will help visitors maintain social distance, which I think you may have seen going in the past couple of days and encourage walking and cycling into and around the town. I would like to make as many of the things that we are doing to help cyclists and walkers, permanent, rather than temporary. I am very interested in seeing how the changes work so we can work out how we balance the needs of motorists with the needs of people who are walking and cycling.
These works are likely to utilise the first tranche of funding which is £152k which has been allocated to us. There is then going to be an ongoing opportunity for us to receive a second tranche of up to £607k later in the year. We need to move quickly to deliver the initial works and demonstrate to DfT that we can deliver in the short timescales in order to qualify for this second tranche of funding so our main focus has been on this to date; because of the timescales we are unable to consult in the usual way, but we will be seeking feedback as the changes are rolled out. Officers have been discussing a number of other plans for the next tranche of funding as well as considering ideas put forward by the public, businesses and elected Members to help pedestrians and cyclists across the Borough, and are open to any other suggestions.
You may be aware that Wokingham Town Centre has been the focus of one of the DfT’s Local Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plan pilot projects. We intend to complete this for the Town Centre and then roll it out across the Borough so that eventually the whole Borough will benefit from a plan for walking and cycling forming a cohesive network based on evidence to ensure that the greatest benefit is achieved from our physical measures. This will form part of the new Local Transport Plan (LTP4) when it is produced next year.