New Southport cycle lanes see Queens Road closed to traffic and cycling allowed on Chapel Street

Queens Road will be open to bicycles and buses only and closed to cars while new pop-up cycle lanes will be created along Hoghton Street from this Friday (August 21). 

The new traffic restrictions aim to make cycling and walking easier in Southport town centre). 

The plans will also see Talbot Street become a ‘Quiet Street’ with cars prevented from driving onto Eastbank Street, while a ban on cycling on Chapel Street, Tulketh Street and Wesley Street will be lifted.

The creation of the ‘Southport Emergency Active Travel Route’ comes in response to more people cycling and walking since the coronavirus pandemic hit the UK in March. 

Sefton Council’s Cabinet Member for Locality Services Cllr John Fairclough said: “Our vision for Sefton is a confident and connected borough, where people can enjoy the use of many cycle and walking friendly routes.”

Southport and Bootle are among areas across the Liverpool City Region which will see 23km of new pop-up cycle lanes and expanded footpaths supplemented by traffic calming measures.

Changes from this Friday (August 21) include:

• Chapel Street, Tulketh Street and Wesley Street – Cyclists will now be allowed under a new ‘Share with Care Space’. This is an area that is shared with people walking and cycling and we will be encouraging people to take notice of the other people in this area.
• Queens Road – No through traffic for cars and taxis will be restricted which will make the street quieter for people living along the street and make it better to walk and cycle along. This applies between the junctions between Manchester Road and Park Road.
• Hoghton Street – Segregated cycle lanes on both sides of the street, which will remove parking along both sides and create a safe route for cycling. The bus stop and disabled parking bays will be retained.
• Talbot Street – 
  No vehicles, except bicycles from entering Talbot Street at its junction with Belmont street in a north-eastbound direction; 2.
  No vehicles except bicycles from exiting Talbot Street at the junction with Eastbank Street
  Suspend Pay & Display on Talbot Street between Portland Street and St Andrew’s Place, and replace it with ‘no waiting at any time’;
  Waiting restrictions on the south-east side of Talbot Street, between Portland Street and Duke Street, limiting waiting to a maximum of 2 hours
• Temporary Covid Parklets, Lord Street Service Road. The proposed temporary closure of Court Road, Southport will extend from the junction at the crossroads where Court Road enters Lord Street and the junction with Union Street.

The scheme is being carried out by Liverpool City Region Combined Authority, Sefton Council and MetroActive. 

They said: “We appreciate that travel using public transport is difficult with social distancing restrictions and we hope to encourage walking and cycling as an alternative to car use by providing access routes to Southport town centre to link with other routes.

“We appreciate this is particularly important in that there are 17,660, 12 to 17-year olds living in Sefton and 28.5% (or 33,592) of households in Sefton do not have access to a car or van (2011). These measures will be monitored and adjusted if appropriate.

Talbot Street in Southport

“Please note that all plans are subject to review and change.”

They added: “We know that getting to Southport town centre for work, shopping or leisure is a priority for our community. We need to make sure that town centres are well connected to local communities by walking and cycling.

“Please tell us your views once the routes have gone in and we have finished our work on them. We may make changes to the way the route has been created based on what you tell us.

All comments can be emailed to transport.planning@sefton.gov.uk”

Since late March, when the coronavirus lockdown began, there has been a surge in people cycling and walking for daily exercise and essential journeys. Six in 10 of people told a Combined Authority survey that they expected to walk and cycle more even as lockdown measures are eased.

The new infrastructure will help enable people to travel more safely and support social distancing, connecting key locations like hospitals, workplaces and town centres as well as rail and bus stations.

Cllr John Fairclough, Sefton Council’s Cabinet Member for Locality Services said: “Our vision for Sefton is a confident and connected borough, where people can enjoy the use of many cycle and walking friendly routes, where we all work together to keep Sefton clean and green with a commitment to low pollution and better air quality.

“The Emergency Active Travel Fund will allow us to make changes to two routes in Sefton, one in Southport and one in Bootle which will encourage cycling and walking and make significant improvements to our streets to enable people to use cars less and move around in a different way.

“We want to encourage people to use active forms of travel by increasing the opportunity for people to walk or cycle, in line with the Council’s commitments to improving Health and Wellbeing and tackling Climate Change.”

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