Agenda item

5.1

The Policy Committee received four petitions from members of the public. Two members of the public did not attend to present their petitions, a written response would be provided.

The Policy Committee received a petition ‘Sheffield General Cemetery’.  Philip Ward and Adrian Hallam attended the meeting and presented the petition to the committee.

The petitioners explained that Sheffield General Cemetery was a popular inner-city destination for walking and recreation, as well as providing a pleasant access route for pedestrians and cyclists between the Sharrow area and Ecclesall Road and beyond. The recent improvements to the Cemetery and expected upturn in use of its facilities will lead to an increase in footfall. Members were urged to consider the future of the site.

The speed of the vehicles on Cemetery Road presented considerable risks to those attempting to cross. Crossing the road was particularly hazardous for users of the nursery in the Cemetery grounds, to older people attempting to access the bus stops and to people from the care homes in the vicinity, who might be wheelchair users. Cyclists too had difficulty crossing from Grange Road into the main entrance. 

The petitioners acknowledged the Council’s criteria for determining pedestrian crossing sites including the number of collisions and costs but asked that they also consider access to amenities in this instance and whether costs could be reduced by removing beacons and only using painted lines on the road instead.

The Chair thanked the petitioner for bringing the petition and highlighted that whilst decisions taken on installing crossings were driven by the data, there was also a need to be mindful that to roll out more zebra crossings across the city a more coordinated approach nationally was needed and that means following lessons learnt in other countries.

In France for example, crossings comprised of have painted lines on roads with no beacons. They are quick and easy to install. There is no reason we shouldn’t do that in order to prioritise safety for the most vulnerable road users.

The Chair confirmed that he was happy to continue to work with on this issue and the wider support for action from central Government and would also look to see what could be done about ensuring that the suggestion for a crossing near the Sheffield General Cemetery is on the Council’s list of works, obviously prioritised in line with the criteria that exists across the city.

5.2

The Policy Committee received a petition ‘The junction of Duke Street/Bernard Street/Talbot Street’.  Graham Wroe attended the meeting and presented the petition to the committee.

The petitioner explained that the petition had received 228 signatures and listed a number of community amenities that were in close proximity to the junction. The junction created an obstacle for people walking, cycling and driving due to its poor layout and during rush hour there was no safe place for pedestrians to cross. He explained that thejunction was so dangerous it put people off walking, especially if they were not able to move quickly and therefore the number of accidents may be low because people avoid the area. An increase in lorries and vans had been noted following the introduction of the Clean Air Zone.

The petitioner referenced a video he had made of the junction to emphasise the problems. A petition for a crossing at the same junction had previously been conducted in 2014 and since then the traffic has got much worse. The petitioner urged the members to act now to safe lives at the junction.

The Chair thanked the petitioner for bringing the petition and advised that Manor Castle Councillors had been working on this issue. It was acknowledged that the Council receives a high volume of requests to install pedestrian crossings throughout the year. Limited resources meant that it was necessary to assess, score and prioritise locations.

The Chair advised that sites for the 2023/24 pedestrian improvement programme had been finalised and were already in progress. However, when it is nearing the end of each calendar year the prioritisation and selection process is initiated for the rolling annual Pedestrian Improvement Programme that is due to commence the following financial year. The top scoring sites are re-assessed to determine whether they have remained at the same score, increased or reduced in score. Any changes that may have occurred since the request was originally received which, may affect the original assessment, such as any local building developments, changes to the highway including road layouts and any other improvement measures that may have been implemented are considered. Once the prioritisation process is complete, the highest scoring sites are then progressed under the Pedestrian Improvements Programme. The Chair was unable to confirm at that time whether this location would be prioritised for next year’s programme as it has yet to be assessed and the prioritisation process for 2024/25 had not begun. However, it would remain on the city-wide list to be considered for future programmes if it was not prioritised for next year. 

5.3

The Policy Committee received seven questions from members of the public. Three members of the public did not attend to ask their question, a written response would be provided.

Questions from Richard Brogden

·       “Will the committee agree to drop the threat of implementing 12 hr bus lanes along both roads (Ecclesall Road, Abbeydale Road (incorporating London Road) indefinitely as a result of our patient accessibility survey.”

·       Will the committee define (quantitatively) what constitutes a success relating to proposed junction improvements that will be undertaken in the spring of 2024"

·       "Will the committee give reassurances to our patients, and those of other dental practices (and allied health professionals) across both routes that any measures implemented will never compromise their access to vital services?"

·       "Will the committee give reassurances that any economic impact assessment that may potentially be undertaken with any measures in the future is done in a totally impartial, and independent fashion that would involve all stakeholders across all the affected routes?"

The Chair explained that as agreed at this committee on the 19^th July 2023, it was proposed to initially implement the following bus priority measures:

·       Junction improvements and traffic management amendments at or near junctions along London Road, Abbeydale Road and Ecclesall Road bus corridors.

·       Camera enforcement of existing sections of bus lanes on London Road, Abbeydale Road and Ecclesall Road

The detailed design of these measures will be finalised and proposed amendments to localised Traffic Regulation Orders (TROs) would be progressed pursuant to officer decisions. Statutory consultation associated with the changes would be undertaken.

Where such matters were then subject to a further decision by the Committee, recommendations would be presented for its consideration in due course.

Any implementation of these works would then be reviewed. This would be undertaken to determine if further bus priority measures were required. This may include options to amend bus lane hours of operation and the enhanced enforcement of parking and waiting restrictions.

The aim of the project was to improve bus journey time consistency and reliability along London Road, Abbeydale Road and Ecclesall Road. Data on journey time consistency and reliability would be provided by the South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority and bus operators. 

The Chair advised that there were more specific journey saving benefits, but it would take more time to extract them from the business case. The benefits of the scheme would be reconfirmed at Final Business Case stage later this year. At that stage the criteria for measuring success would be published.

The aim of the scheme wass to improve sustainable access for all people to facilities and services along London Road, Abbeydale Road and Ecclesall Road, and in the city centre with enhancements to bus priority.

The main factor determining parking on both corridors was bus lane hours of operation. As agreed at this committee on the 19^th July the current approach was to enforce parking in bus lanes without amendments to bus lane hours of operation. The bus lane hours of operation were 07.30 to 09.30 and 16.00 to 18.30 for the majority of bus lanes. 

As mentioned previously, should the review of the traffic management changes the Council had agreed to deliver indicate that further changes were required, further consultation and engagement would be undertaken.

Any economic impact assessment potentially undertaken would be impartial. The factors determining any investigation such as the range of stakeholders to be involved would be confirmed following an agreement on the requirements for an economic impact assessment.

Questions from Dylan Lewis-Creser

How does the council seek to ensure that residents and visitors are directed towards the most sustainable forms of transport in the city, decreasing carbon emissions and increasing the liveability of residents through lower noise pollution, air pollution, and reclaimed space from motor vehicles?

The Chair thanked the questioner for attending and explained that the Council had a comprehensive website to assist residents and visitors to use sustainable transport options and also a web page detailing the Council’s response to the climate emergency. The Council also worked closely with SYMCA to help people make good choices about how they travel across Sheffield and South Yorkshire.

Questions from Zak Viney

1.    Sheffield City Council has supposedly declared a climate emergency, of which we know that domestically, our biggest emitting sector is transport, accounting for a quarter of the UK's total emissions, the majority of these emissions coming from motor transport. How the council expect to work towards its decarbonisation goals without active investment and implementation of sustainable transport alternatives, encouraged by schemes such as the Walkley and Crookes AtN and Sheaf Valley Cycle Route?

2.    Sheffield City Council bought in a Clean Air Zone in February 2023. Whilst this measure is progressive in addressing toxic air in the city, which causes hundreds of premature deaths annually - how does the council expect to encourage modal shift, required to clean our air, without active investment and delivery of schemes such as the Walkley and Crookes AtN and Sheaf Valley Cycle Route?

The Chair explained that some of the questions related to items on the agenda for the meeting and the questioner was welcome to stay and listen to those.

Analysis had shown that transport accounts for 26% of Sheffield’s carbon emissions, the third highest sector after Industry and Housing. The Council recently set out how it intends to address and reduce these emissions in The Way We Travel decarbonisation Routemap chapter, which was approved by the Transport, Regeneration and Climate Change Policy Committee on the 19^thJuly this year.

This document sets out the challenge, vision for change and some of the activity the Council is undertaking between now and 2025 to accelerate the transition to Net Zero travel, including activity around increasing active travel, improving public transport, consolidating freight and decarbonising vehicles.

The Chair advised that encouraging and enabling the uptake of walking and cycling were important parts of Sheffield City Council’s overall ambitions for improving the air we breathe, addressing the congestion on our streets and reducing carbon emissions from transport. To achieve this, and to ensure that people in Sheffield see walking and cycling as a realistic and preferred choice, our infrastructure for active travel would need to improve. 

The Council would soon be developing a Sheffield Active Travel Plan that sets out the cycling and walking networks that Sheffield needs to deliver to support sustainable growth, at both a strategic corridor level but also local community level. This would form the basis of a programme of future infrastructure that the Council would proactively seek to deliver, using suitable funding opportunities including, but not limited to those from Department for Transport, Active Travel England and SYMCA. 

Questions from Marion Gerson

Thank you, Chair, for getting Council Officers to make the most up to date figures for pollution monitoring available. As I had expected, these show that the Nitrogen dioxide measurements for the Abbeydale Road pinch point had increased substantially. Outside Butterworth Cycles it went from 33 in 2021 to 41 in 2022. That’s a 24% increase caused by the closures. At the Carter Knowle junction it went from 32 to 39, a 22% increase. These increases were the result of just half a year of Archer Lane and Little London Road being closed, with the resultant congestion, so we can reasonably assume that a whole year’s measurements would have been even higher.

The report from officers on the closure of Archer Lane states as a benefit that it resulted in a 3% drop in vehicle movements within the Active Travel Neighbourhood. (This is debatable since the major drop in traffic was the result of 1200 fewer vehicles accessing the Abbeydale pinchpoint from the suburbs further south, and many of their drivers are likely to have chosen alternative routes into town such as Ecclesall Road.)

But respondents to the survey questionnaire particularly cited increased travel times, extended queuing and increased fuel use for their concerns over the closure of Archer Lane. That is what was being measured on Abbeydale Road. If half of vehicle movements in the affected area had an average increase in queuing time of, say, 40% this would greatly outweigh a possible 3% drop in numbers of vehicles.

Where, then, is the benefit of the Active Travel Neighbourhood to our efforts to reduce pollution and carbon emissions?

The Chair thanked the questioner for attending to ask their question and noted that much of the information he was going to provide was very technical and therefore he had taken advice from officers. As highlighted in the report to policy committee for the Sheaf Valley Cycle Route and Nether Edge Active Travel Neighbourhood is it not possible to make any conclusions about either of the schemes’ impacts on air quality along Abbeydale Rd or elsewhere. This is because the air quality measurements the Council take using simple diffusion tubes are only reliable enough to provide long term trends in terms of changes in Nitrogen Dioxide concentrations over at least 2-3 years. Given that both schemes were introduced nearly halfway through 2022, and included a period of COVID lockdown restrictions there was no way of showing the impact the schemes may have had based on 2022 data. For these reasons data must be treated with a level of caution and any conclusions be equally cautiously considered.

 As traffic volumes continued to rise following the easing of travel restrictions in 2021, so too could we expect NO2 concentrations to rise.  Indeed, city-wide there had been an average increase in NO2 concentrations of nearly 16% across all diffusion tubes between 2021 and 2022.  Some areas of the city, not connected to either of these schemes, had seen average increases of NO2 concetrations of as high as 28% between 2021 and 2022. Traffic congestions along Abbeydale Rd and Ecclesall Rd was not new but continued to rise towards pre-pandemic levels as was the case city-wide.

Traffic count data indicated that vehicle movements across junctions have changed as a result of the schemes. This had resulted in some increases in vehicle counts, on certain roads and at certain times of the day including Abbeydale Rd/ Broadfield Rd / Sheldon Road. Equally, however, data also showed decreases in traffic count data at other arms of this junction and at other locations along Abbeydale Rd. 

Given that transport is a significant contributer to poor air quality in towns and cities, and accounts for around 26% of carbon emissions in Sheffield, it is vital to take steps to reduce overall emissions from motorised vehicles over the long-term and provide real opportunities for people to make more local journeys by active and sustainable means.