Review of two active travel routes gets underway

Residents are being invited to give their opinion on two active travel routes in Wirral.

In 2020, changes were made to both Fender Lane in Moreton and New Chester Road, Birkenhead to provide a safe, dedicated space for cyclists alongside, but separated, from motorised traffic.

Wirral Council is now seeking formal feedback from members of the public and stakeholders on both schemes. This local opinion, knowledge and insight will then be considered alongside the data on traffic flows and collisions - and design guidance from the Department for Transport (DfT) - by the Environment, Climate Emergency and Transport Committee for members to decide on the future of these two routes.

The committee may decide that no change is needed, they may decide that some improvements to how they operate are necessary to make them more effective. Or they may decide that the routes are not working and recommend that they are returned to how they were before 2020. Any changes to either or both schemes will require funding.

Public consultation opens on October 14th and runs for eight weeks, closing on December 9th.

The survey asks six questions about how people currently use the route and what changes, if any, they would like to see to the routes and why.

Residents may be aware that Fender Lane and New Chester Road are also included as part of a route proposed in the emerging Core Active Travel Network (CATN) for Wirral. A public consultation on this ended recently, with the results shortly due to be reported to the council’s Environment, Climate Emergency and Transport Committee.

CATN is a much longer-term project that will look at further improvements to a range of key routes in Wirral, whereas feedback provided within these consultations will be reviewed by committee to decide if any changes or improvements are needed in the shorter term, subject to funding.