Final preparations are being made for a temporary closure of Division Street in Sheffield – with motorists being told it may affect their journeys into the city centre on Saturday and Sunday.
Division Street will be temporarily closed between the junctions of Devonshire and Eldon Street and Division and Carver Street from 10am to 4pm.
Rockingham Street will be open to crossing traffic under normal traffic light control. Roads will be closed by a recognised traffic management company, with professional stewards and a designated event manager on site to manage and oversee the closure.
'The temporary closure has been suggested by Cycle Sheffield which is hoping to make a case for more people friendly streets.
Sheffield City Council has agreed to the proposal so it can assess the impact the closure has on neighbouring streets and businesses – to see if it is something that could be considered as part of its clean air plans to combat the climate emergency.
CycleSheffield is looking at what opportunities there are to pedestrianise Division Street and plan to put a proposal together to Sheffield City Council and the Sheffield City Region Active Travel Commissioner. The campaigners say the change will make Division Street a more attractive and healthy area for visitors, businesses and residents.
Councillor Bob Johnson, Cabinet Member for Planning and Development at SCC, said: “I’m pleased to support the temporary closure of Division Street. It’s a vibrant and lively street and we’re keen to see how people in Sheffield respond to this.
“Cycle Sheffield is an important voice of course but we want to see the impact on businesses, or on people with mobility issues. We know that more needs to be done to make our city more sustainable and to encourage non-car journeys. The climate emergency of course means we need to act now.
“Maybe it’s a misconception but there are already large parts of the city that are pedestrianised. If you look at photographs from five, ten, fifty years ago you can see the progress we’ve made. The Gold Route from Sheffield Station set the standard, but let’s not forget the Moor and Fargate – our two major shopping streets – are both fully pedestrianised, which isn’t something that many other cities can claim.
“That’s not to say that we’ve cracked it. Division Street will provide some interesting clues as to how people’s habits have changed and what they want from our city centre.
“I’d also like to thank our events team which has given up its weekend to help Cycle Sheffield host this event.”
Dexter Johnstone from Cycle Sheffield said: “We’d like to thank the council for helping us to stage this event. We can best achieve change by working together and tackling the climate emergency in a positive and collaborative fashion.
“This closure will give us all some valuable insight about how we can achieve our aims for more cycle and walking journeys as part of a sustainable transport network which works for us all.
“'This will be a great opportunity to see what positive changes could happen in our city to make it more people friendly. More open, accessible, healthy, and fun.”
Please send any feedback or questions to Cycle Sheffield at PedestrianiseDivisionSt@gmail.com.
