£2m spend on cycle lane projects to be reviewed

A review will take place into whether almost £2m should have been spent on new cycle lanes, pavement changes and other safety measures.

The work was carried out on Middleton Road and Church Lane in Gorleston, and Jellicoe Road in Great Yarmouth, Norfolk.

County councillors backed a motion by the Great Yarmouth First (GYF) party calling for an investigation into whether the work provided value for money.

The projects were paid for with funding from the government's Active Travel England (ATE) agency, which aims to get more people walking and cycling.

Work on the roads took place over the last year, with changes including new pedestrian crossings, while the width of roads and pavements was reduced for cycle lanes.

However, GYF councillor Barry Gravenell said the alterations had "caused concern for residents, businesses and road users".

Gravenell, who represents Gorleston, said the changes had made it harder for cars to pass on the roads, and "the actual pavement has been narrowed so tightly that pedestrians struggle to get past".

He also criticised the council's previous Conservative administration – which lost power in last month's local elections – for going ahead with the projects.

The council had been given just under £2m by ATE to build them, and at the time said the money had "to be spent on schemes that promote walking, wheeling or cycling".

Gravenell said the funding should have been turned down unless it could be used for "sensible" schemes.

"If you've got money, you don't just spend it for the sake of it," he said.

At the most recent county council meeting, 60 members from a range of parties backed GYF's call for a review into the work.

That will look into areas including how effective the schemes have been, whether they provided value for money and how future projects might be assessed.

Dawn Howell, who runs a florist on Middleton Road, said the layout changes had caused "big problems" and welcomed the review.

"Whether that's going to change anything, we'll see," she added.

Conservative Kay Mason Billig, who led the council when the work took place, said she understood it had been supported by the nearby school and football club.

But she criticised a system which she said saw the "government dictating to local councils what their priorities must be rather than trusting local councillors to make those decisions".

Last week the government revealed its latest "active travel" strategy, which aims to "make walking, wheeling and cycling a safe, easy and accessible option for everyone".

It said that included more support for local authorities in developing schemes.

Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander conceded her department "has sometimes been slow to support local authority innovation in the past".

She said it would provide a £10m fund to councils to "support trials of innovative measures intended to encourage active travel and improve road safety".

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