Liverpool Mayor Joe Anderson unveils £2m plan for cycles lanes on major routes in and out of the city as we slowly emerge from the coronavirus lockdown. Tony McDonough reports
Liverpool is to create 100km of pop-up cycle lanes on main routes onto the city in a £2m investment as the UK slowly moves out of lockdown.
Last week the Government unveiled a £2bn package to encourage people to cycle and walk more and avoid transport to make it easier for people travelling to and from work to social distance.
Now Mayor of Liverpool Joe Anderson has unveiled the city’s plan which has identified two key corridors for temporary cycle lanes – with five more major routes under review. The are set to be introduced by this weekend. They are:
Sefton Park Perimeter
The route from Sefton Park – Aigburth Drive, across Ullet Road across Croxteth Road on to Sefton Park Road and along Lodge Lane.
Across Upper Parliament Street junction and pick up cycle path on Smithdown Lane. From Crown Street on to Oxford Street East.
Left on to Mason Street to Irvine Street. Across Edge Lane on to Mount Vernon Green and on to Hall Lane finish.
West Derby Road Route
West Derby Road (junction with Green Lane inbound and outbound), Rocky Lane, back along West Derby Road, left on to Farnworth Street right on to Kensington.
The programme of measures will also include new street furniture in the city centre to enable people to socialise safely at distance and ease the way for pavement cafes to operate once restrictions are lifted.
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The move follows a review of traffic movements in the city on how best to support people going back to work as the government begins to slowly ease lockdown restrictions for certain sectors.
As well as the network of temporary cycle lanes, the Mayor is also looking at the temporary widening of pavements around transport hubs within the city centre to enable social distancing, and has instructed the Council’s Highways Department to revamp the citybike scheme.
Mr Anderson, said: “The Covid-19 pandemic has impacted our way of life beyond imagination but the challenges it has presented has also provided us with a once in a lifetime opportunity to reimagine how we use and travel within our cities.
“We are already doing much to alter how people move around Liverpool city centre but we must now go further than we ever dreamed possible and use our highways network in a way which balances the needs of our economy, our health and our environment.”