Plymouth City Council has approved funding contributions towards two major transport improvement schemes for the north of the city.
The Derriford Transport Scheme and Derriford Hospital Interchange were recently awarded a total of £11.56 million from the Heart-of-the-South-West Local Enterprise Partnership (HotSW LEP) – the body responsible for allocating funding for large-scale transport schemes across Plymouth, Devon, Torbay and Somerset.
This includes a £10.16 million contribution towards the £12.72 million Derriford Transport Scheme, which will see a major upgrade to Derriford Roundabout and provide additional traffic lanes, new bus lanes and improved traffic signals, as well as improvements to the William Prance Road junction.
The remaining £2.56 million will be covered by contributions from planned development sites in the area, but the Council has agreed to fund this from its capital budget in advance of receiving the contributions.
The Council has also approved a £840,000 funding contribution towards the new Derriford Hospital Interchange, which was awarded £1.4 million from the HotSW LEP. Delivered in partnership with Plymouth Hospitals NHS Trust, this scheme will help to reduce congestion and make bus journeys to and from the hospital quicker and more reliable.
Both schemes are part of a ‘master plan’ of highway improvements that will help to unlock development and deliver the 9,000 new jobs and 3,000 new homes that are proposed for the north of the city. This also includes the proposed Forder Valley Link Road, which was recently earmarked to receive £22.5 million from the Growth Fund and the new Marjon Link Road, currently under construction.
Councillor Mark Coker, Cabinet Member for Transport, said: “The A386 is the main route between the city centre and the north of the city, including Derriford Hospital, the University of St Mark and St John and the Plymouth Science Park. It is often congested at peak times and proposed developments in the area will put even more pressure on this part of our transport network. These schemes will help to keep traffic moving as our city grows, improve bus journey times and reliability and provide better walking and cycling facilities along this key route.” 
I hope to get some up to date photos of the current works at Derriford over the next week or so…
Cycle Routes
Plymouth City Council has been awarded £2.46 million from the Department for Transport to improve walking and cycling routes to and from the Derriford area.
The project will see a total investment of £3.51 million over the next five years and deliver more than four kilometres of the city’s Strategic Cycle Network.
Improved on- and off-road cycling routes will be provided along a number of roads, including Plymbridge Road, Southway Drive and Tavistock Road and will benefit people with mobility problems as well as pedestrians and cyclists.
The programme, which will also see enhancements to walking and cycling facilities in Honicknowle, is part of a ‘master plan’ of highway improvements that will help unlock development and deliver more than 9,000 new jobs and 3,000 new homes in the north of the city.
It will link in with other transport improvements being made in the area, including the Marjon Link Road and the Derriford Transport Scheme. Full consultation on each element of the walking and cycling programme will be completed before works start on the ground.
Councillor Mark Coker, Cabinet Member for Transport, said: “We are committed to promoting active travel and the health, economic, environmental and quality of life benefits that come with it. Cycling in Plymouth has gone up by over 40 per cent in the last four years and doubled along the routes where we have targeted investment. This programme will improve walking and cycling routes to and from the Derriford area and deliver another section of our citywide network.”
Councillor Philippa Davey, Plymouth’s Cycling Commissioner, added: “In 2007, 67.4 per cent of cyclists who took part in a consultation exercise said they found it difficult to cycle on our Northern Corridor. Some of the issues they raised were a lack of continuous cycle paths and lanes, concerns about safety and the high volume of traffic. These improvements look to address these concerns and provide better facilities for both experienced and inexperienced cyclists.”
Rather than wasting £3.51m on under utilised cycle lanes for a minority, it is a crying shame that the funding can't be used on resurfacing some of the completely worn out road surfaces in the city. Then the majority of road users will benefit - cars, buses, lorries (and cyclists!). Glen Road running through Plympton is a prime example of a life expired road surface which in places is becoming quite dangerous.
ReplyDeleteHas Clarkson resurfaced?? Perhaps cycle lanes are under-utilised because the existing infrastructure is so bad?? Also, not as if there's not a lot more expenditure going on ROAD schemes...
DeleteNo amount of fiddling with the road layout will make any difference, the only way of getting car users to consider Public Transport is if there is a huge change in the service provided and the type of vehicles used. We often end up with the hand me downs that the traveling public in the rest of the country will no longer tolerate, this won't get people out of their cars and onto buses. You need to provide a travel experience and level of comfort that people feel is close to that of their precious car. I regularly catch the 11 and the ELC Esteems used on this route have all the internal ambiance of a Portakabin, although on the plus side they do have some of the most generous leg room of all the PCB fleet.
ReplyDeleteAt least Clarkson has the guts to speak out on what many people think but are too afraid to say themselves! However, I certainly wouldn't condone smacking somebody in the nose if I couldn't get my steak and chips !! Assume the person replying to the original comment is most likely a cyclist?! If the road fund license money collected from those who pay through the nose to use the roads (every day motorists, bus companies, lorry companies etc) was invested in the crumbling infrastructure, we would have the best roads in the world.
ReplyDeleteWell spotted Columbo! I am a cyclist.....I also have two cars and drive >30000 miles per year. So your point is?
DeletePoorly used cycle lanes may be a reflection of poor connectivity, bad design etc making it feel unsafe rather than apathy. And yes, if hypothecation of RFL and fuel duty took place, we would have the world's best roads....but wouldn't have the schools or hospitals we have now.
A perfect example of what the original poster might be on about is the cycle lane beside Tavistock Road from Crownhill up to Derriford. I believe over a million pounds of taxpayers money was spent to build it and it is hardly used - the majority of cyclists still use the bus lanes. I can't wait to see how many cyclists will still use the road bridge once the Laira rail bridge is reopened as a cycle route.
ReplyDelete