Busy Skegness road will close to cars for 18 months

Banning cars on a section of Lumley Road in Skegness is one of five pilots being implemented by Lincolnshire County Council for 18 months to cut congestion and make walking and cycling easier in the county.

The council launched a consultation in March to ask residents’ views on eight schemes using £799,900 funding from the Department for Transport’s Active Travel Fund. Over 2,750 residents, business and organisations completed the consultation which ended on Sunday, May 16.

Schemes have been given the go ahead in Skegness, Grantham, Louth, Sturton by Stow, Lincoln. Each scheme will be implemented for a period of up to 18 months, after which a decision will be made whether or not to keep the changes. No date has been set yet for when the schemes will start.

Councillor Richard Davies, executive member for highways and transport at Lincolnshire County Council, said: “Where these schemes are being implemented, they will be temporary for up to 18 months. If they work for the community, we can make them permanent. And if they don’t, we can take them out again easily.

“Although they are temporary, we’re keen for no community to feel like they’ve just got roadworks happening for 18 months so we will use high quality infrastructure to implement these changes, such as traffic planters.”

Skegness ‘Sustainable Travel Corridor’ (57% supportive)

The scheme will create a traffic-free corridor along a section of Lumley Road. The road will be closed to all vehicles from the junction of Roman Bank/Wainfleet Road to the junction with Drummond Road.

The junctions with Beresford Avenue and Rutland Road will also be closed to through traffic accessing Lumley Road.

However, Roman Bank, Wainfleet Road and Drummond Road will all remain open to motor traffic, as will the section of Lumley Road from the Clock Tower Roundabout to Drummond Road.

An issue was raised regarding the bus service. The county council is recommending proceeding with that project, with close monitoring and the some changes.

The changes include turning the Lumley Road ‘Active Travel Corridor’ into a ‘Sustainable Travel Corridor’ by allowing buses to access the road. There will also be 20mph advisory signage on Lumley Road and the council is working with bus companies to adhere to this.

The following four schemes will also now go ahead after receiving broad public support:

Grantham active travel zone (48% supportive)

• Creating a ‘Sustainable Travel Corridor’ allowing buses and cycles to progress southbound on High Street. Northbound traffic would continue as is currently the case
• At St Peter’s Hill the straight ahead lane will be removed from the west side and turned into a wider footway and area for outdoor retail/hospitality
• St Peter’s Hill eastbound lane to be removed to continue sustainable travel corridor – breaking into filter lanes opposite Belvoir estate agents
• The closure of Guildhall Street at the junction of High Street allowing access for deliveries
• Westgate area proposals to be dropped with monitoring during the first six months of ETO to consider installation of temporary give way islands if traffic needed to be slowed further

Louth active town centre (64% supportive)

The council has recommended the following changes to the proposal:

• Remove the proposed closures to Aswell Street and Burnt Hill Lane. This appears to be unwelcome as there will be access issues.
• Convert Market Place parking to blue badge only when market in not operational to increase disabled parking
• Protect the existing cycle lane on Eastgate with small planters
• Advisory 20mph signage at entrance to Mercer Row

This deals with the main issues of contention raised by residents. It would also deal with the majority of issues the town council raised.

Lincoln Newark Road cycle lane protection (82% supportive)

This has been the most supported proposal put forward for consultation. The council recommends the project proceeds in totality with no changes. Consideration has already been given to ensure the cycle protection does not obstruct private driveways, side roads, and bus stops.

Sturton by Stow low traffic neighbourhood (60% supportive)

The Low Traffic Neighbourhood closure will take place at the north end of the village. The council will continue to monitor the situation and consider moving the closure to the Southern edge based on ongoing residents’ feedback.

Other prospective schemes in Boston, Mablethorpe and Spalding were not supported by the public, and will not be going ahead.