|
|
13 January 2021 |
|||
|
|
||||
|
Emergency Active Travel Fund - Maidstone |
||||
|
|
||||
|
Decision Making Authority |
Kent County Council |
|||
|
Lead Director |
Simon Jones |
|||
|
Lead Head of Service |
Tim Read |
|||
|
Lead Officer and Report Author |
Russell Boorman/Lee Burchill |
|||
|
Wards and County Divisions affected |
Maidstone North East & Maidstone Central |
|||
|
Which Member(s) requested this report? |
Committee |
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
This report makes the following recommendations: |
||||
|
For Information. This report is for update purposes only and the board are asked to note its contents. |
||||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
Timetable |
||||
|
Meeting |
Date |
|||
|
Maidstone Joint Transportation Board |
13 January 2021 |
|||
|
Emergency Active Travel Fund - Maidstone |
|
|
1. INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND
On the 23rd May 2020, The Secretary of State for Transport, Grant Shapps announced The Emergency Active Travel Fund (EATF).
To help Local Authorities to restart Local Transport as part of the Government’s Covid-19 recovery roadmap, The Department for Transport (DfT) announced the £250 million EATF.
The two key aims of the funding are to:
· Enable more people to walk and cycle where possible
· Support safe social distancing in areas where people congregate, e.g. town centres, high streets, transport hubs or bus stops.
The types of measures that the DfT required Local Authorities to consider included:
· Road closures
· Widened footways
· Pop up cycle lanes
· Temporary cycle parking
· Social distancing signage
Kent County Council was provisionally allocated over £8 million by the Department for Transport, which was and will be used to invest in promoting measures identified above in the wake of coronavirus.
The first round of funding (Tranche 1) agreed by the Government supplied £1.6 million, with the rest of the funding dependant on the first round being spent within 8 weeks. The second round (Tranche 2) has subsequently been awarded with an allocation of £6.1 million.
2. Scheme Updates:
Tranche 1:
Two schemes were identified for the Borough of Maidstone, King Street and Earl Street. These were to provide a ‘pop up cycle’ route and ‘support for social distancing’, respectively.
Due to the limited timeframe for the conception, design and installation of the schemes, the engagement and consultation was not at the level usually given to projects of this nature. However, details of the proposals were communicated to the County and Borough Members.
It was made clear that any of the EATF schemes were of a temporary nature and could be adjusted accordingly following any feedback from the local community in relation to the implementation of the measures.
A dedicated email address was set up prior to commencement of the schemes to allow ease of contact. This email address saw an unprecedented number of enquiries and the decision was made to implement an automated response. It must be noted that all correspondence was and continues to be assessed and responded to accordingly if required. Each correspondence has been logged and is one of the tools to be used for the retention of the measures.
No specific durations were given by the DfT for the measures to be insitu. It was therefore decided that KCC would carry out attitudinal surveys to better understand the publics perception and thoughts of the implemented measures. A copy of the report can be seen in Appendix 1.
Although the response to the attitudinal surveys has been positive, Maidstone Borough Council are due to carry out their rejuvenation of the Bus Hub early in the New Year, and to assistance with this, KCC has taken the decision to fully remove the King Street ‘pop up cycle’ route. However, the measures in Earl Street will remain in place with minor adjustments being made to the ‘parklet’ seating areas to allow for additional loading and parking.
KCC are currently seeking S106 funding to progress a permanent solution for King Street Maidstone, which links to MBC’s overall cycling strategy of linking Mote Park with Maidstone East railway station. This will be carried out as a ‘normal’ scheme and therefore will follow all the consultation and engagement procedures that Members, stakeholders, and local community has come to expect.
3. TRANCHE 2:
KCC have been successfully awarded £6.1 million from the DfT to deliver further measures for Active Travel under Tranche 2.
The bid document was very specific and Local Authorities were able to bid for 5 named schemes, which demonstrated good value for money and will provide a long-term benefit for cycling and walking.
In addition, Local Authorities are required to undertake formal consultation on the proposals. KCC has therefore launched a consultation for the “Kent Active Travel” measures, this first consultation is on the concept of the proposals and will form the basis of which measures will be taken forward to the next stages of design. Further consultation will then follow on the details of each scheme.
The consultation can be viewed at the following: https://kccconsultations.inconsult.uk/consult.ti/kentactivetravelconsultation/consultationHome and closes on Tuesday 19th January 2021.
Appendix 1:
