£1m cycle lane grant will provide upgraded traffic lights on main road

Doncaster Council will use part of a £1million cycle lane grant to make a number of improvements to a busy main road into the city centre, the deputy mayor has revealed.

Bawtry Road will see three different sets of traffic lights upgraded as part of the new cycle scheme, as well as 600 metres of cycleway, 1400 of “upgraded shared use” infrastructure, and new cycle parking spaces.

Councillor Glyn Jones, deputy mayor of Doncaster and cabinet member for environment and housing, said the grant funding, worth £1.074m, would “deliver walking, wheeling and cycling safety improvements along Bawtry Road between Racecourse Roundabout and St Augustine’s Road”.

He added: “This is a heavily trafficked route, with high levels of footfall and substantial numbers of cycle users using the route daily. It is popular with school children attending nearby Hall Cross Academy Lower as well as commuters travelling into and out of Doncaster.

“The scheme presented does not require the loss of any road space to be delivered and brings additional road safety measures which have been supported through public consultation.”

Coun Jones also explained how the council uses ringfenced active travel funding, provided by the South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority, to “create better places focussing on improving road safety, street lighting, resurfacing footways and carriageways”.

He added: “Whilst funding is ringfenced for improvements to walking, wheeling and cycling infrastructure, funding has been utilised to reduce maintenance budgetary pressures where works provide enhancements to the benefit of all users.”