Flintshire Council awarded nearly £700,000 for three ‘active travel’ projects

The Welsh Government announced this week how £14.5 million of active travel investment will be spent across Wales.

In Flintshire £685,000 will be spent on three projects aimed at improving journeys which involve physical activity encouraging more people to walk and cycle.

Lee Waters, Deputy Economy and Transport Minister had previously called on local authorities to be radical and ambitious in their work to improve active travel.

He called for proposals to go further in creating infrastructure enabling people to choose walking and cycling as the most natural way to undertake shorter journeys.

Mr Waters said: “We are facing a climate emergency, an obesity epidemic and an air quality crisis – and active travel can help us address all of these.

Across Wales we need to do things differently. I have been clear that we need to think big, show ambition and be radical.

These [66] projects are a step in the right direction to achieve the change we need, and we will continue to make significant investment to make active travel the obvious choice for more journeys in Wales.”

The funding will enable three schemes in Flintshire to be completed in this financial year 2019/20.

Details of the projects as outlined by Flintshire County Council: 

Flint – Church Street to A548 – Cost £256,000

“A package of scheme designs for the traffic signals along the A548/B5129 providing bus priority measures have now been completed.

The key locations identified for signal modernisation to incorporate cycling and bus priority measures are:

The Flint – Church Street to A548 scheme includes upgrade of existing Signals to a Toucan crossing on the A548 / Church Street. Improved cycle measures linking to Flint Railway station, Aber industrial estate, the Wales Coastal Path, NCN 5 (cycle route) and Flint Castle and foreshore development area.

The proposal includes the provision of a shared use facility to along Feather Street and the upgrade of existing footbridge to comply with .

It will include new shared use links to the retail park and the new housing on the east side of Church St.”

Greenfield A548 – Station Road / Greenfield Dock – Cost £195,000

“The junction was identified for bus priority improvement measures.

The existing junction will be upgraded to include Toucan Crossings and a direct crossing point to enable pedestrians and cyclists safe access to and from the recently completed Greenfield Valley Active Travel Route which provides an off road shared path to the Wales Coastal Path, Greenfield Business Park and Holywell Town Centre.”

Mold Alun Campus – Maes Gwern – Cost £231,500

“Maes Gwern Estate Road and Broncoed Lane lie to the southern periphery of Mold.

Whilst the scheme is primarily to facilitate and encourage active travel journeys from these areas to the High Schools the scheme will also benefit the wider community as it provides a vital link to the Town Centre and Bromfield and Broncoed Industrial Estates.

Maes Gwern and Broncoed Lane connects Mold South Ward to the Town offering a variety of facilities and services and employment opportunities.

It also serves as a potential sustainable transport corridor to a number of key Employment sites around the southern periphery of Mold.

It is not presently safe as a walking or cycling route however for a number of reasons including poor lighting and in parts no lighting, overgrown vegetation, poor surface quality and lack of signage.

Upgrading this path will encourage modal shift from the motor vehicle to walking and cycling journeys for residents in wishing to have a shorter safe route between the residential areas and the Town, but particularly for pupils attending Maes Garmon and Mold Alun from the existing housing estates and for the new 160 new home development at Maes Gwern.

In order to mitigate the problems associated with congestion within the school campus and along Wrexham Road and in an attempt to improve the viability of active modes of transport it is proposed to undertake the works outlined below.”

Wrexham Road

Widen footway utilising grass verge and relocate street furniture.
Provision of crossing into Mold Alun Campus

Broncoed Lane

Full construction of a 3 metre wide shared use cycling facility
Provision of street lighting

Maes Gwern Estate Road

Widen existing footway to a 3 metre shared use facility between the junction of Broncoed Lane to the junction of the new
development at Maes Gwern.

The whole route

Provision of signage and cycle counters.

Provision of Zebra Crossing on Wrexham Road.

Full list of projects: Active travel – additional grants awarded 2019 to 2020