Plans for better cycling routes and school street closures in Portsmouth

Portsmouth City Council has now submitted its bid to the Department of Transport (DfT) for the second tranche of emergency active travel funding – amounting to £792,000.

If successful, the cash will be spent on a slew of long term projects including more space for people to walk and cycle on the shared path along Eastern Road.

The cash will also be spent on an initiative to close certain streets around school pick up and drop off times.

It comes after the council was awarded £214,515 in the first tranche to pay for road closures in the city during lockdown.

Councillor Lynne Stagg, the council's traffic and transport cabinet member, said ‘We hope our bid will be successful following our tranche one success.

‘We've been able to implement a number of temporary changes to city roads that many people continue to benefit from.

‘We also hope the continued closure of Guildhall walk to vehicles will help the return of students later this month as they travel to university.’

Other changes earmarked for the second lot of funding include more pop-up segregated cycle lanes and low traffic neighbourhoods.

Cllr Stagg added: ‘This is a significant bid for us as we plan to make some permanent and new improvements to the city.

‘We have learnt a lot from the work we did earlier in the year about potential temporary changes on Eastern Road and if we get the funding we can really make a difference by widening the path in specific areas for everyone to safely enjoy this route.

‘I also want to see more children having a healthier journey to school so we plan to start creating school streets.

‘Every child that travels to school in a car is breathing in more polluted air than those who walk or cycle, and they are missing out on the health benefits of active travel.

‘I hope to share with you the results of the bid very soon.’

A consultation is due to start soon on a potential segregated bike lane in Elm Grove, in Southsea.

Interested in getting more updates on traffic and travel around Portsmouth and Hampshire? Join our Hampshire Traffic and Travel Facebook group to see more news related to you.

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