Sheffield’s Transport Vision to reshape travel towards 2035

Simple, affordable fares, reliable bus journeys, easy and safe routes to walk or wheel to schools, shops, and local facilities, and tackling congestion are just some of items that form Sheffield’s Transport Vision for the next two decades.

The plans were approved by the City Council’s Transport, Regeneration and Climate Committee on Wednesday 13 March and set out ambitious aims to transform travel across the city including offering a safe, reliable, and low-carbon network for everyone.

As part of the plans streets will be made safer and more accessible for everyone, more outdoor space will be created for seating, eating and drinking, electric car and van charging points will be expanded, with potential for additional tram-train schemes to be developed.

Cllr Ben Miskell, Chair of the Transport, Regeneration and Climate Committee, said: “Sheffield is a fantastic place to live, work and visit. It is a city on the up, full of ambition and talent with amazing natural and cultural assets. But it is becoming ever clearer that our city is held back by our aging transport network, and we’re determined to change that.

“Sheffield’s Transport Vision is an ambitious plan to deliver a transport network that is fit for the rest of this century. Thirty years ago, our city leaders had a bold vision to build a tram network which allowed our city to grow. Now Sheffield is England’s fourth largest city, and we’re setting out a bold Transport Vision that will help the city develop up to 2035. It will help us tackling congestion by expanding the tram network, improve our buses and make our streets safer. Around the world, the most successful cities understand the importance of investing in reliable, easy to use transport networks to give people genuine choice about how they travel. We want Sheffield’s residents and visitors to be able to have those same choices, as our city moves forward”

Sheffield’s Transport Vision has been built around three main themes, people, prosperity and planet. The numerous projects contained within the plan are designed to deliver a transport network that works for all Sheffielders, supports businesses to shape a thriving city centre, and a low emission offering which is resilient to the impacts of climate change.

The plan explains what the Council wants to achieve in the next five years including Connecting Sheffield – City Centre to Attercliffe and Darnall through to public transport improvements, planned cycling and walking routes to make the Lower Don Valley area a more attractive place to live, work and invest in. The Vision also includes plans for bus corridor improvements, the Supertram network being returned to public ownership, the Barrow Hill and Don Valley passenger rail line reopening, and a new station at Waverley.

Alongside this, an Active Travel Implementation Plan for walking, cycling and wheeling will be developed, along with a Bus Service Improvement Plan which, working alongside South Yorkshire’s Mayor Oliver Coppard, could see the option of franchising the bus network being adopted.

Cllr Miskell added: “Our vision for Sheffield’s future transport system is a bold vision, and it is a shared vision supported cross-party. We will do our bit, but we also need further transport funding from central Government, beyond those already made, if we are to achieve our goal of delivering a transport network everyone in Sheffield can be proud of and one that works for those living, working and visiting the city.”