Residents are being asked for their views on the temporary measures introduced in parts of Bath and Keynsham to widen pavements and remove traffic from roads to help support the recovery from COVID-19.
Bath & North East Somerset Council introduced the measures a month ago following a directive from the government to help people socially distance and encourage a long-term shift in the way people travel.
Residents are now being asked for their feedback on the changes.
Councillor Neil Butters, joint cabinet member for Transport Services, said: “It’s really important we hear what people think of the changes that have been made. Have they been effective? Do they make you feel safer? Have they improved your experience of visiting our High Streets?
“As we recover from the impacts of COVID-19 we have a once-in-a-generation chance to develop long-term sustainable changes to the way we travel. By letting us know your views on the temporary measures we’ve introduced, you’ll help to inform our future plans aimed at solving traffic and environmental problems.”
Feedback can be submitted via the Space to Move website: http://www.sustrans.org.uk/spacetomove. Created by Sustrans, the website helps local authorities evaluate the effectiveness of the changes made to enable people to walk and cycle safely during lockdown and beyond.
The council is also keen for residents to get involved in its longer-term Liveable Neighbourhoods project which aims to encourage a long-term shift in the way people travel and take pressure off the roads and public transport network. It wants to encourage people to walk and cycle more by making it easier to get around, while continuing to support those who depend on their vehicle for mobility.
Residents are being asked for their help in shaping the future of transport in their communities by identifying locations where more space can be created for walking and cycling, accessibility improved, or the impact of traffic reduced.
Since the project launched at the end of May 3,000 people have put forward suggestions. Any ideas submitted that are taken forward will be subject to further public engagement and if new permanent traffic restrictions are identified they will involve a formal consultation process.
To find out more about Liveable Neighbourhoods and submit your comment or see what other people have suggested, go to: https://bathnesliveablestreets.commonplace.is/
I’ve just done it as saw a poster at end of N Parade. They are totally pointless as inconsistent, everywhere and people mostly ignore social distancing in the street anyway.
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In this new ‘day & age’ separating types of traffic is vital. How we do it is a different matter as we are all cramped up into tight urban areas with narrow roads and narrow pavements.
It’s astonishing that genuinely vacant land, and empty buildings of all kinds are not just taken and built into super cheap but decent housing that is really affordable, like module apartments, just adding an extra pod if you can afford it. Alongside this well planned out walking and leisure areas, and eventually, even if it’s a whole generation later, we might learn to live less cramped existences in our heads/minds as well as physically.
If there’s a new, and this time non-coronavirus epidemic or pandemic super flu coming, then we’ll have at least two pandemics running side by side. I wish politicians would allow non-political inventors and builders to make society safer for everyone, regardless of politics, colour, creed, race, religion, and all the other differences we make up about people.
I mean, it is the 21st Century, 20 years in, isn’t it? Isn’t it?
Alan