County council awarded £1.3m to make cycling and walking safer in Northamptonshire

The Government has awarded £1.3m to the county council to make cycling and walking safer in Northamptonshire.

Earlier this year, the council applied to the 'emergency active travel fund', which was set up to make travel safer following the Covid-19 outbreak.

In their bid, cabinet member for travel Jason Smithers outlined four major plans worth a total of £3.8m.Now, the council has been awarded £1.3m in total to put towards their projects, just shy of the £1.4m they applied for.

It comes after the centerpiece of the council's bid for the money - a controversial £1.4m plan to turn the entire of Billing Road into a one-way street with an integrated cycle lane - was scrapped following a poor reception by the public.

In a statement released on November 18, Councillor Smithers said his team is planning a new scheme centred on Billing Road and surrounding streets to replace the one-way street idea.

He said: "We are delighted to receive the second tranche of funding, which provides another boost for Northamptonshire as we support the recovery of the economy.

“We now have the funding we need to progress our proposals to improve the walking and cycling facilities along the Billing Road.

“As we have previously announced, we are no longer progressing the original ideas for making a section of Billing Road one-way and are working up alternative proposals. The first step will be consultation and engagement on those proposals, which we expect to do in the new year.”

The council says it will consult on the schemes before they are implemented.

The statement released yesterday did not reference the other three schemes highlighted in the council's bid to the Government - namely a £1.1m plan for Cottingham Road in Corby, a roll out of digital cycle counters in Northampton and a number of "quick win" fixes for the county's roads.

In September, the Chronicle & Echo revealed the £1.4m plan to convert Billing Road into a one-way street through an FOI request.

Soon after, a Northampton resident's petition to halt the plan was signed by more than 1,400 people in less than a week.

Round one of the fund - which was awarded in May - saw the council successfully receive their full allocation of £351,00 to implement short-term measures to encourage walking and cycling.