Council Reports Myland Access Group Over the Christmas break I had a bit of light reading to get through. It was a Public Notice from Essex County Council, which I saw attached to a lamppost at the North Station roundabout, and goes by the snappy title of, (take a deep breath!): “The Essex County Council (Colchester City) (Prohibition of Waiting, Loading and Stopping) and (On-Street Parking Places) (Civil Enforcement Area) (Amendment No. 40) Order 2023. The Essex County Council (Station Way, Colchester) (Bus Lane) Order 2023 and Proposed Construction of Cycle Track on Station Way, Colchester, (Footway & Carriageway)” I went home and downloaded all ten pages of this public notice and packed it away to take with me on our brief Christmas and New Year trip. The first five pages were mostly the usual techno babble regarding where and when you could park and where the bus lane was going, (same place as it currently is apparently). It was the subsequent five pages that proved interesting. They were entitled “Statement of Reasons Active Travel Essex – Colchester” and explained that the Government had announced the second Active Travel Fund (ATF2) in July of 2020 and subsequently ECC had submitted a bid and was awarded £7.4m in November 2020. This fund, together with an element of match funding by ECC, will fund schemes to improve cycling and walking in Basildon, Braintree, Brentwood, Chelmsford and Colchester, It goes on to say that the cycle facility forms part of the on-road route connecting North Station to the city centre. I then looked further at the maps which were attached and if I looked closely, I saw that what is being proposed is a “Footway conversion to: ‘Unsegregated Shared Footway/Cycleway’. Shared width: 2m min to 9m max.” for 92 metres. Also a “Carriageway conversion to: ‘Twoway mandatory cycle lanes’ for 103 metres. Now if we can cast our minds back to July 2020 when the ATF2 was announced, we will remember that another announcement by Government was made at that time – Gear Change – A bold vision for cycling and walking. They said in this document “Cycles must be treated as vehicles, not as pedestrians. New cycle provision, which involves sharing space with pedestrians, including at crossings, will no longer be funded.” It also says “Contraflow cycling, where cyclists are allowed to ride against the direction of travel on lightly-trafficked one-way streets has worked well”. It goes on to say “We will not fund any scheme that does not meet the new standards and principles.” 8
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