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WSCC bids for £4.7M of Government money for Tranche 2

Submitted by Geoff Farrell on 17 August 2020 - 10:34am

A bid for £4.7million worth of improvements and initiatives for cyclists and pedestrians has been put forward to encourage active travel choices in West Sussex.   Tranche Two of the Department for Transport’s Emergency Active Travel Fund was submitted on Friday 7 August and includes projects for:   

Robust guidance for cycling infrastructure and unambiguous message from Boris Johnson

Submitted by Geoff Farrell on 31 July 2020 - 1:41pm

This is the Government notice - crucially including sentences that are deliberately worded and unambiguous.  No longer will Councils and HE be able to get away with shoddy or substandard schemes.    Let’s hope that the Government follows through with action, although it has a get out clause by calling this ‘guidance'.*****This email is to let you know that on 27 July the Department for Transport published revised national guidance for highway authorities and designers on cycle infrastructure design.

Construction work starts on the first of seven temporary cycleway schemes in West Sussex.

Submitted by Geoff Farrell on 25 July 2020 - 9:19am

This is taken directly from the WSCC website.   Construction work starts on the first of seven temporary cycleway schemes in West Sussex in the week begining July 27th and is likely to take about a fortnight to complete.   The Chichester scheme will connect the Spitalfield Lane, hospital area with the city’s railway station, creating a 2km-long “keyworker corridor” for safe cycling. The route will also link to the central retail area and other major employment sites, such as the University of Chichester.

West Sussex is 'fully aligned' with DfT aims and gets 100%!

Submitted by Geoff Farrell on 8 July 2020 - 7:09pm

Following on from the previous news item, West Sussex County Council has been awarded all but £3K of its theoretical maximum of £784K.  This means that is now able to start work on the seven schemes in the bid - one in each district/borough.  Well done to WSCC officers - one of whom described this as a mixture of Christmas and a nightmare...  They had 5 working days from the starting gun to submission by June 5.

DfT sets up £225M fund for Local Authorities

Submitted by Geoff Farrell on 11 June 2020 - 12:40pm

The DfT has £225M for Local Authorities to use in support of the measures in the TAL of May 9.  It is in two tranches - 20% and 80%.   As in the letter to LAs of May 27, both will need to be bid for.   The amount for West Sussex is £3.919M of which 20% is 784K and that has to be bid for by June 5 - and was.  The amount for each LA is relative to the amount of commuting by public transport in each LA as in the latest census.    WSCC put a bid in for one scheme in each of the Ds and Bs and a response from the DfT is awaited.

Government issues statutory guidance to Local Authorities

Submitted by Geoff Farrell on 11 May 2020 - 11:02am

The UK Government has issued a Traffic Advisory Leaflet that requires Local Authorities to provide new infrastructure that will a) encourage people to walk and cycle to/from work instead of using public transport and b) protect them from traffic that would otherwise put the two into conflict, and c) help with social distancing.

WSCF issues position statement - COVID 19

Submitted by Geoff Farrell on 6 May 2020 - 10:21am

The West Sussex Cycle Forum (WSCF) believes that the current emergency has provided few benefits, but one of them is the increase in people now cycling on our roads and cycle paths. Clearly, with fewer cars on the roads this has reduced the perceived fear, and the actual risk, of conflict between people on bikes and people in vehicles. Bike shops report record levels of repairs being done on bikes rescued from sheds and garages.

WSCF supports Transport Action Network's challenge to the Government's massive road building programme

Submitted by Geoff Farrell on 23 April 2020 - 12:16pm

The Transport Action Network (TAN) is launching an action against the Department for Transport (DfT).    Their CrowdJustice page is now live.  

See also https://www.forbes.com/sites/carltonreid/2020/04/21/legal-bid-launched-to-stop-uk-governments-27-billion-road-building-plans/#ae26afd1609e

Section of Downs Link closed for 3 months from April 14

Submitted by Geoff Farrell on 1 April 2020 - 12:53pm

A section of Downs Link will be closed for 3 months from April 14 for upgrading work on the surface. This work is funded by the EAFRD - an EU body.  The Downs Link surface has been upgraded in Rudgwick, Slinfold and Henfield parishes. Work begins in West Grinstead parish in mid April 2020. It is expected to take 3 months to complete.

HE complete Feasibility Study of Chemroute

Submitted by Geoff Farrell on 13 March 2020 - 6:46pm

Highways England has completed the feasibility study for the Chemroute - linking Chichester and Emsworth.  The report is now shared with WSCC and CDC - their officers are ploughing through the 300+ pages...   I (Geoff ) have been in touch with Jason Hones (the contact at HE) to ask that I, on behalf of the WSCF, and Ian Sumnall/Ian Swann of the CDCF, have an early sight so that we can comment before it's shared with stakeholders.   His promise to involve us is quite genuine but not at this stage.

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