New cycling lane in Peterborough city centre; taxi rank to be extended; 10 schools want roads closed for pupils

After cycle lanes were installed on Crescent Bridge, City Road and Priestgate, another will shortly be placed in New Road.

And like City Road and Priestgate, New Road will become one-way to traffic with a 20mph speed limit imposed.

The latest pop-up cycle lane comes from the first tranche of government funding to spend on promoting methods of travel which relieve the burden on public transport as a response to the coronavirus pandemic.

So far Peterborough City Council has been promised more than £750,000, with £150,000 so far allocated.

The three city centre cycle lanes have cost approximately £20,000 each to install.

The Stagecoach Citi 5 currently uses New Road and will continue to do so coming into town, but going out it will use a new temporary bus stop on City Road.

In other developments, the taxi rank on Northminster is being extended slightly further towards the junction of Broadway to “assist taxi drivers who are waiting to join the ranks in Broadway by providing better visibility of Broadway,” according to the city council.

The council is also producing a number of signs on some of the key routes around Peterborough to advise people how long it takes to walk and cycle to a destination as a further means of encouraging people to travel sustainably.

Meanwhile, the council has said that it will be “undertaking a number of school street initiatives once the schools return”.

This includes a street scheme where the road outside a school temporarily closes to all school-run traffic to become a pedestrian and cycle/scoot zone during opening and closing times.

It is hoped this will help to implement social distancing, encourage active travel, reduce congestion and pollution at the school gates and improve safety for children on their way to and from school.

The Peterborough Telegraph previously revealed that 13 city schools had expressed an interest in being part of the scheme.

That list is now down to 10 which definitely want to take part:

. St Thomas More

. St John Fisher

. Lime Academy Parnwell

. Welbourne Primary

. Peakirk-cum-Glinton

. Longthorpe Primary

. Ken Stimpson

. St Michael’s

. West Town

. St Augustine’s.

Asked when a final decision will be made on each school’s application, the council said: “We’re in the process of reviewing them all and should be able to finish that task for all the schools shortly and can then discuss arrangements with them further ahead of projects going live.

“The school community will manage the closure. Cones and signs will be put across the road to prevent vehicle access during school drop-off and pick-up time periods for the area around each school entrance.”

The closures would be in place for up to 18 months.