Transport shouldn’t just be about the car. We want to make our roads safer spaces where active travel is encouraged, and empower residents to feel they have some control over how they can travel around their local community.

So, in the recent North Somerset Council budget we set out a vision for the future of our area – a future that is better connected, cleaner, greener and safer than ever before with new transport projects that will stand the test of time and help safeguard the future of our planet.

North Somerset Council Executive Member for Finance, Ash Cartman, set out our plans for this ambitious new transport investment scheme:

“I want residents of North Somerset to take back control of their public spaces, this includes our roads, cycle paths, and public rights of way. We want to make it safer to cycle and walk, slow traffic in our villages, and help residents with parking problems.

“We’re investing an additional £1.25m in fixing potholes, approved funding to help introduce 20mph zones and residents parking schemes, given the go-ahead to a new Clevedon to Weston Pier 2 Pier cycle path, and pushing ahead with the Portishead Railway of course.”

With leadership from LibDem councillors, North Somerset Council will be investing £2.09m in the pier to pier cycleway between Clevedon and Weston, enhancing our section of the England coastal path and delivering more improvements to the Strawberry Line.

And that’s just the beginning of the cycling investment. The Council will establish a quiet lanes network of cycle and pedestrian routes between Yatton, Clevedon and Nailsea, all while maintaining essential and farm accesses.

We’ll make improvements to Hill Road and The Beach in Clevedon with a one-way system to allow better pedestrian access and cycling.

We’ll create a cycling corridor on Baker Street and Milton Road in Weston-super-Mare, introducing a 20mph limit, preventing rat-running of cars and offering better links from residential areas to the town centre.

We’ll introduce a segregated cycling route over Hildesheim Bridge to the town centre in Weston-super-Mare, and we’ll deliver several new school schemes that offer safe cycling and walking routes to school for children and parents.

For those with cars, we know that parking is a challenge. So we’re working to give communities the control they need with residents parking schemes. After a very popular test run in Leigh Woods, we’re providing extra funds to accelerate other schemes across North Somerset.

This package of travel investment will be vital as we plan for a future in North Somerset out of lockdown, where being able to travel safely in climate-friendly ways will help to boost our local recovery.

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