Agenda item

The Director of Planning, Development and Transportation submits a report on the Transforming Cities Schemes – Connected Leicester.

Scrutiny commission members are requested to note the officer comments made in response to issues raised by them at the recent informal commission briefing. Further comments can be made at the Scrutiny meeting and these can be considered as the schemes are developed in detail prior to scheme delivery.

The Director of Planning, Development and Transportation submitted a report on the Transforming Cities Schemes – Connected Leicester.

The City Centre Streets Programme Manager introduced the report and noted the basis of the Transforming Cities Bid which was submitted just over one year ago to the Department for Transport (DfT) and was supported with a grant to LCC of £32.5m. The current scenario was that people were travelling more on a day to day basis and with plans to build 40,000 houses in and around the city and the increasing usage of private cars, it was noted that the city’s road network could not manage this level of usage and there was no space to provide increased capacity. However, if it were possible to accommodate an increased capacity, this could lead to more pollution and a reduction in road safety amongst other concerns. The view was that it was therefore necessary to reduce congestion, improve access for all and find ways of improving air quality by providing good alternatives to car usage through public transport and active travel modes. Better public transport was required but this would also need to have reliable service times. To help this situation the increase of cycling and walking would also be promoted.

During the briefing session recently held with Members and Officers, three schemes were considered:

·         A6 Abbey Lane/ St Margaret’s Way - improving bus use down that corridor and significant improvements for cyclists and pedestrians.

·         Melton Road scheme – improvement for buses.

·         Anstey Lane scheme – some improvement for buses, a bus lane and a bus only road between Beaumont Centre and Anstey, in addition to walking and cycling provision along the entire route. It was anticipated that the section which would be provided imminently was the section of Anstey Lane from Buckminister Road towards the outer ring road and further linkages which were being looked at in more detail considering various options to provide the best facilities possible.

The following points were then made in discussion:

·         A query raised at the briefing session as to why all the TCF schemes were taking place in the West and not the East of the City and it was further reiterated at this meeting that South of the city also required development.?

Response from the City Centre Streets Programme Manager:

It was responded that with the resources which were available, it was better to focus in one particular area. Furthermore, DFT wanted to look at specific areas, however future bids for more funding were anticipated to enable expansion of the work in other areas.

·         Action on a larger scale was required including greater investment and support from central government.

Response from the City Centre Streets Programme Manager:

Further support was required, either direct or through strategy from central government.

·         The report noted the increase of people cycling and walking however there were concerns about the bus usage.

Response from the City Centre Streets Programme Manager:

As a result of Covid-19, there was currently reduced capacity on buses, it was hoped that this was a short-term issue and these services would see a return to normal usage at some point. The department would be working closely with buses in relation to bus priority measures and to ensure the maximum benefit was obtained out of the bus facilities being provided.

·         From the report, it was identified that there had only been an increase of 700 cyclists for the London Road corridor scheme since 2016, the Member reported that this would calculate as £8.5k per additional cyclist. There were concerns that based on the above calculations what was the likelihood of reaching even close to the target? In addition, the Member felt that the coronavirus pandemic hadn’t been taken into account when carrying out the assessments and most business were now considering working from home and therefore the Council needed to be capable of adjusting to the changing environment.

Response from the City Centre Streets Programme Manager:

With regard to the issues of the Coronavirus and its effects, in the period prior to Christmas when out of lockdown it was reported that daytime traffic levels were approaching pre Covid-19 usage but we were not seeing an increase on top of that during peak periods. It was recognised that there may be less travel to work in the city centre, but it was still a requirement to promote those other forms of travel. Providing bus priority measures also had a positive spill over effect.

·         At the briefing, Members had concerns of additional bus lanes due to the knock-on impact it had on congestion and air pollution. Concerns that taking out a lane instantly reduced the road capacity and people were not travelling by bus which probably would not change in long or short term.

Response from the City Centre Streets Programme Manager:

Where bus priority measures were being installed, the aim of the design of the corridors was to make them capacity neutral where possible, this term was explained in more detail - the bus lanes would benefit the buses and encourage modal shift from cars to buses but aimed to not dis-benefit car drivers.

·         It was expressed that traffic in Leicester would be difficult to control by reducing traffic. It was requested to confirm whether the bus lanes would be in action at peak times or 24hours? And what were the future plans for the rest of the City?

Response from the City Centre Streets Programme Manager:

The bus lanes being proposed were intended to be 24-hour bus lanes, the reasons behind this were further explained.

·         It was queried whether cycle lanes would be two way and whether they would be shared with pedestrians? Complaints were often received from disabled persons in relation to issues of sharing space with pedestrians and cyclists and more recently there were increased concerns about people using electric scooters with a fear of competition for space on these shared lanes.

Response from the City Centre Streets Programme Manager:

This issue had been recognised, and it was sought where possible to implement segregation, however physical constraints of the road network didn’t always allow for this. It was not currently lawful to use an electric scooter on the public highway except for current government pilots, however there could be changes on this in the future.

Officers were thanked for the work taking place. It was noted that there would be a further consultation with all councillors whose wards were affected by these schemes.

AGREED:

1.    That the Commission note the officer comments made in response to issues raised by them at the recent informal commission briefing.

2.    That comments made by this Commission be considered as the schemes were developed in detail prior to scheme delivery.