This month the government announced a huge commitment to funding active travel, which will contribute to levelling up the country. Choosing a sustainable form of transport can improve the general population’s health whilst largely reducing carbon emissions.
The latest news speaks volumes about the direction of transport in the UK as governments respond to the increase of people actively traveling. This shift in funding focus also highlights the global pressure of improving air quality in our cities. Funds are available to invest in better and safer cycling and walking designs.
Active Travel England (ATE) invests £32.9 million to improve cycling and walking infrastructure across the country
GOV.UK
Supported by Transport Scotland, the Smarter Choices, Smarter Places (SCSP) Open Fund doubled from £2.5 million to £5 million to help cut Scotland’s carbon emissions and improve air quality by supporting people across the country to travel in more active and sustainable ways. Projects will be able to apply for grants between £5,000 and £100,000.
Transport Scotland
71% of travel within England is under five miles. Promoting a shift to sustainable modes of transport is not impossible. However, encouraging active travel isn’t enough, we also need to enable it.
How can you enable active travel?
Our multidisciplinary team at Project Centre can help you with your active travel funding applications and implementation. Our engagement team can kick off the schemes, by consulting the local communities and individualising problematic areas. The team reaches out to the community with diversified and inclusive communications tools that are easily accessible to all.
We have significant experience in providing a wide range of design services. We developed all design stages of Active Travel Corridors to the local authorities’ LCWIP and ensured compliance with LTN1/20. These include:
- Feasibility and optioneering studies
- Preparation of business cases
- Preliminary and detailed design
- Road Safety Audit
- Site supervision and contract management
Our experience includes
Our portfolio of successful projects is wide and include schemes all across the UK. Here are just a few among them:
LCWIP Birkenhead – New Brighton Phase 1 route in Wirral Borough designed for Liverpool City Region Combined Authority. The scheme consisted of optioneering and preliminary design of a 7km long cycle and walking route in Wirral. This was developed in a mostly busy urban environment. A positive feedback from Active Travel England endorsed the quality of our design.
Nottingham Greenways project – delivered for Nottingham City Council consisted of three active travel schemes to provide high-quality facilities for pedestrians and cyclists whilst providing traffic calming elements along three routes in the city for a total length of 2km. Our design services included the development of the cycling and walking route from outline design though to detailed design within a ten-week programme.
Quiet Route to HEZ for Herefordshire Council – we designed the development from Outline to Detailed Design of 12 Quiet Routes including 46 improvement schemes. The plan was to maximise active travel in and out of the city’s enterprise zone, ensuring compliance with LTN 1/20 requirements and improve safety.
LCWIP Runcorn for Daresbury in Halton Borough – the project is designed for Liverpool City Region Combined Authority, consisting of the preliminary and detailed design of 6.5km long cycleway in Halton Borough. It included road realignment and improvement of three signalised junctions.
Scottish schemes include
Callander shared path (Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park Authority) – we undertook the preliminary and detailed design of a new off-carriageway shared use facility. Our team developed approximately 650m in length north of the existing Callander Holiday Park access road, which forms part of national Cycle Route 7. The proposal included the provision of two short timber bridges above two small burns. It also comprised mitigation measures to avoid impact on trees’ root protection areas and a small retaining wall.
Edinburgh’s Travelling Safely scheme – currently implementing a 6-month statutory consultation on a number of covid-safety measures and cycle-safety additions (previously called Spaces for People). These schemes see a number of busy streets now containing cycle lanes and some streets being made one-way to reduce traffic on residential streets. They are currently in place under ETROs which will be considered for permanency after the consultation.
Don’t miss the opportunity to get government funds and make your community safer and greener.
