Sheffield’s city centre is undergoing an exciting transformation. With improvements on Fargate nearing completion, the Heart of the City thriving and progress on the new city centre park at Castlegate, there are lots of reasons to celebrate Sheffield.
Walking, wheeling and cycling improvements in Attercliffe and Darnall given funding boost
Plans to transform how people get to and from the city centre from Attercliffe and Darnall has been given a funding boost following the allocation of £23.68m from South Yorkshire’s Mayor.
The project aims to deliver significant improvements to walking, wheeling and cycling infrastructure including a segregated cycle route from the city centre to Attercliffe and Darnall, 19 new and improved pedestrian crossing points and improvements to public space on Attercliffe High Street to provide a safe, direct and attractive travel route between homes and businesses.
In addition to those plans, improvements will also be made to the bus service in the area with 660 meters of bus lane being installed in each direction and nine new bus priority measures at key junctions introduced to help make travel by public transport more appealing.
Cllr Ben Miskell, Chair of the Transport, Regeneration and Climate Policy Committee, at Sheffield City Council, said: “The award of this funding from South Yorkshire’s Mayor, Oliver Coppard, is fantastic and will go a long way to making important changes to the way people get from Attercliffe and Darnall to the city centre.
“We have some incredible plans for the Attercliffe and Darnall area, introducing 1,000 new homes, improving tram and car parking facilities and bringing to old Adelphi Cinema back to life are just a few of them. But, being able to offer a first-class transport network for the area will be the icing on the cake. It will make the area more attractive to live, work and invest in and improve resident health at the same time.”
As part of the project, the redundant rail bridge on Meadowhall Road will also be removed allowing heavy goods vehicles to have an alternative route through the area, keeping them away from Attercliffe Road. Traffic measures are also being proposed on Attercliffe Road and Attercliffe Common including protecting spaces for Active Travel modes. A 20mph speed limit through the centre of Attercliffe and along Worksop Road is also being proposed.
South Yorkshire’s Mayor, Oliver Coppard, said: “Everyone in South Yorkshire should have freedom and choice when it comes to how they travel and move. That’s why we’re investing in public transport and new infrastructure on our road network, and it’s why we’re now putting in place these plans to dramatically improve active travel routes from Sheffield City Centre to Attercliffe and Darnall. These sorts of projects are just part of making active travel a real option, right across South Yorkshire.”
If the changes are approved by Sheffield City Council’s Transport, Regeneration and Climate Committee in early 2025, work on the project will be able to begin shortly afterwards and could be complete by the middle of 2027.
