A special £4m fund is to be established to pay for a vast network of temporary cycle lanes in Liverpool.
A report to Liverpool City Council’s Cabinet on Friday (5 June) is recommending the fund be created to help the city introduce potentially up to 65 miles of pop-up cycle lanes along seven key routes across the city.
The first branch covering two miles has now been established on West Derby Road – along the eastern corridor into the city centre – and the council’s highways team have now identified the remaining routes.
Liverpool’s segregated pop-up cycle lanes will be introduced over the coming weeks and months as a response to the Covid-19 impact on people’s travel plans, with the aim of connecting cyclists to the city’s permanent cycle network
The seven pop-up routes will be:
- Route 1 – West Derby Road – Kensington – City South
- Route 2 – Sefton Park to City Centre –Sefton Park perimeter – Sefton Park Road – Kingsley Road – Crown Street – Hall Lane – University hospital
- Route 3 – Liverpool Loop North: Bootle New Strand – Bank Hall – Vauxhall – City Centre
- Route 4 – LCWIP North: East Lancs – Townsend – Breck Road – City Centre
- Route 5 – LCWIP East: East Prescot Road – University Hospital – London Road – City Centre
- Route 6 – LCWIP South (University Route): Gateacre – Woolton Road – Wavertree – Lawrence Road – Crown Street – Myrtle Street – City Centre
- Route 7 – Liverpool Loop South: Hale – Speke Boulevard – Garston Village – Aigburth Road – City Centre
Funding for the pop up cycle lanes is to be sourced from the council’s highways investment programme and via the Active Travel Grant established by the Department of Transport.
A further £100,000 has been identified to invest in upgrading infrastructure for Liverpool’s existing CityBike hire scheme.
The proposed £4m pop-up cycling fund is part of a wider £15.5m investment in a new phase of Liverpool’s £500m Better Roads programme.
The outstanding £11.4m is to be spent across three phases of highways maintenance and footway repairs along major roads such as Edge Lane and Walton Lane, as well as upgrading nine traffic signal schemes.
These programmes of works are to be awarded to companies already on the council’s procurement framework system, most of whom are local companies who have signed up to support the council’s local supply chain charter.
In addition to this new £15.5m investment, the council is currently overseeing a £45m upgrade to city centre connectivity and is introducing 11km of new permanent cycle lanes. It is also about to look at expanding its 20mph zones to further improve safety and air pollution.
Mayor of Liverpool, Joe Anderson, said:
“Covid-19 has forced everyone to look at how cities can adapt to make it easier and safer for people to cycle.
“In a very short time we’ve started to deliver this new network of pop-up cycle lanes and this level of investment underlines our commitment to ensure this is implemented right across the city.
“I’ve been greatly encouraged by the feedback to date from cyclists – old and new – and I know there are ways we can improve further. Upgrading the CityBike scheme is another step in the right direction and we will continue to listen to see what other opportunities there are to make improvements.”
- To promote cycling in the city the Mayor of Liverpool is inviting councillors, businesses and the public to come forward with ideas on how to improve access for cyclists and pedestrians.
People are encouraged to post their views online at: https://liveablestreetsliverpool.commonplace.is/
They can also ask questions via email at cyclingwalking@liverpool.gov.uk
