Story Amy Palmer | Photo:Douglas Johnson
The council have announced that the roadworks now taking place at the bottom of Rock Street are part of the Bridgehouses traffic management scheme, which is designed to improve journey times for buses and improve traffic flow on the ring road.
Works are ongoing to provide a bus lane to access Nursery Street, providing more room for cars and other vehicles. This is part of a wider programme of work which is funded through the ‘Sheffield Better Bus Area’ scheme and is designed to ease the congestion of traffic entering the city centre from the north east.
Councillor Leigh Bramall said:
“We are determined to keep traffic moving and have prioritised the key > locations across the city that will make a difference to improving bus > journey times and the reliability of public transport.”
However, like many other keen cyclists, Mick Nott from the Sheffield Cycle Forum is against the road layout changes, arguing that they will make the current cycling situation in the area worse.
He told us:
“We have done about six hours of surveys and there are as many people cycling on the footways as on the road or using a combination of footway and road, often with a great deal of invention and craft! The sure sign of a traffic scheme unsuited to cyclists is one where cyclists are on the pavements.”
The Sheffield Cycle Forum has previously written a detailed response to the plans, now underway, which can be found at http://www.cyclesheffield.org.uk/2014/10/06/10677/
The response illustrates the perceived dangers of the changes being made and it proposes alternative solutions that would encourage greener travel.
For more information on the disruption please contact: transport@sheffield.gov.u