Grants welcomed
Posted on Tuesday 11th December 2018
Newport City Council welcomes the additional grants being made available from Welsh Government which will help accelerate a number of new transport projects in the city.
As a result the amount that Newport has been awarded this year through Newport Local Transport Fund has increased to over £800,000.
The council is committed to the Welsh Government’s Active Travel Act and to provide schemes that promote healthy lives.
The new projects for 2018/19 and beyond include:
- £77,000 to help progress the work on an Active Travel footbridge linking Devon Place to Queensway to take the construction phase to tender;
- £30,000 towards looking at potential pedestrian and cycle routes linking Lliswerry, Lysaghts Village and Monkey Island; and
- £25,000 to begin work on a city centre sustainable transport study.
Councillor Roger Jeavons, cabinet member for Streetscene said: “The grants mean we can continue towards ensuring our city has plenty of Active Travel networks which allows our residents to walk and cycle to work and enjoy at their leisure.
“These new grants mean we can concentrate on these three major projects which we can make steady progress on over the coming months.”
Newport is already seeing significant benefits in our Active Travel Network and since the Act came in, during 2014, the council has, with funding from the Welsh Government, now completed a series of projects including:
- A 6km ‘intercity’ cycle route between Newport and Cardiff across the Gwent Levels
- off-road route for walking and cycling along the SDR and former steel works road, taking users almost to the boundary with Monmouthshire;
- City Circular Central and Southern project allows residents of Lliswerry, Pill, Victoria and beyond to access central services to the city centre, Friars Walk, bus and train stations, Riverside Park and The Riverfront Theatre, via a completely traffic free route.
- Three new bridges in Lliswerry Recreation Ground scheme provide a shared use route suitable for walkers and cyclists to complement works sports and recreation improvements in the area.
- improvement works on Bettws Lane to create an off-road route for walkers and cyclists on the northern side of the lane, with new crossing points linking off-road canal routes to each other and also to Newport High School.
- Funding for works in Crindau and Shaftesbury to enhance the routes between the city centre and the settlements to the north of Newport.