Tag: Blogs

Run by Sustrans and funded by the Scottish Government, the   CLPLUS delivers pioneering and game-changing projects which inspire public bodies in Scotland to design better places and spaces for people to live, walk and cycle in for everyday journeys.

Proposals from Angus, Edinburgh, Dundee, East Renfrewshire, Glasgow, Perth and Kinross, North Ayrshire and South Ayrshire councils have all been selected to go through to the second phase of the competition, and funds each of the 10 projects with a grant of £50,000 to further develop their proposals.

The next stage will include extensive engagement with local communities and stakeholders and developing designs which could be taken to construction. Out of these 10 finalists, a number of successful projects will be selected to be taken to construction after 2020.

The grants will total £500,000 from Transport Scotland funds, delivered through Sustrans Scotland. Each project is expected to begin further development of the proposals within the next month with the judging stage of the competition set to take place in April 2019.

CLPLUS is demonstrating that designing places around the needs of people delivers a wide range of benefits, including boosting local economies, supporting smaller retailers, healthier communities and safer, more attractive streets.

Transport Secretary Michael Matheson said:

“The Community Links Plus fund generates some of the most exciting ideas for introducing the infrastructure we need to encourage more people to leave their cars at home and make journeys by bike or on foot.

“It’s very encouraging to see we have eight different local authorities which have not only identified opportunities in their areas but have been shortlisted for this stage of the competition. We will look forward to finding out which ideas are taken through to construction.

“The Scottish Government doubled the active travel budget to £80 million to help create an active nation of people leading healthier and more active lifestyles.”

Sustrans Scotland Head of Infrastructure Matthew Macdonald said: 

“These 10 shortlisted projects are a bold step towards a healthier, more sustainable and vibrant Scotland which designs places around the needs of people over vehicular access.

“With the backing of Transport Scotland, Sustrans will now work in partnership with the eight shortlisted local authorities to help develop their pioneering visions into realistic proposals which have the support and input of their local communities.

“These exemplar projects demonstrate the wide ranging benefits that well designing safer, friendlier places bring, such as boosting footfall for local business, improving the health of local people and creating safer environments that are more pleasant to live in and move through.”

Councillor Lynne Short, Dundee City Council city development convener, said: 

“This is an exciting win for Dundee as we look to offer more opportunities for people to cycle and walk safely around the city and beyond.

“Reaching the next stage of this process will allow us to further develop our ideas and consider options on how to improve multimodal connectivity between the centre of the city and communities.”

The 10 shortlisted projects are:

1. Angus Council: Accessible Arbroath, Active Travel, Active Town

The redesign of the A92 in Arbroath to create a segregated cycleway and footpath through the town and reduce the number of car lanes from four to two. The project would also create a 1.5km active travel corridor linking the West Links play area to the Abbey and would include redesigned junctions, crossings and landscaping to encourage and enhance cycling and walking for visitors and residents.

2. City of Edinburgh Council: Edinburgh Active Travel Network

Creating a connected network of routes across the capital, enabling cycling to be a realistic journey choice from many parts of the city to the city centre, Edinburgh Park/Gyle, Leith and the Waterfront and the Bioquarter, and also bringing significant benefits to pedestrians and to the wider public realm.

3. Dundee City Council: Northern Links

The creation of three strategic cycle routes connecting the city centre and the communities to the north east and west. These routes would form a joined up network and cross the city’s inner ring road, to encourage more people to walk or cycle to the city centre and waterfront.

4. East Renfrewshire Council: A727 Active Travel Corridor,Toll to Toll, and the A77 Newton Mearns to Glasgow Cycle Corridor

Linking Thornliebank with Clarkston the A727 Toll to Toll project would see the creation of dedicated cycle paths and improved walking routes as part of an enhanced public realm. The project would also create improvements for people walking and cycling along the A77 from Newton Mearns and Giffnock to Glasgow, by creating segregated cycle ways and connecting to key public transport links in the area.

5. Glasgow City Council: North City Way

The North City Way (NCW) aims to deliver a coherent, predominantly segregated, walking and cycling route from Milton into Glasgow City Centre, via Ashfield, Cowlairs, Keppochhill and Sighthill. It will utilise a vehicle-free bridge over the M8 and a new bridge over the Glasgow – Edinburgh railway, creating a quiet and safe route to the City Centre for people on bikes and on foot from the north of the city and beyond.

6. Glasgow City Council: Yorkhill Kelvingrove Cycling Village

Through partnership working with Glasgow City Council and Sustrans, the Community Council have already overseen some enhancements to the area including improved roads, footways and signage, installation of cycle racks and on-street cycle pumps and new Nextbike stations. Following this success, this project aims to improve the look and feel of the area, prioritising the needs of pedestrians and cyclists and creating an attractive ‘gateway’ to the SECC/Hydro.

7. Glasgow City Council: Glasgow Avenues Plus

The City Deal funded ‘Avenues’ project is a core component of the City Centre Strategy and Action Plan 2014-19, which aims to “ provide an excellent and sustainable quality of life and experience for citizens, visitors and investors that will drive growth in employment, population and shared prosperity”. Through the development of Avenues the project aims to introduce connected green routes across the city centre that will link key neighbourhoods, gateways and focus points, display a people-centred approach to street design, promote sustainable modes of transport and improve perceptions of the city.

The project builds on the Community Links PLUS partnership and will extend the benefits of both the pilot Sauchiehall Street Avenue (under construction) and ‘The Underline’ (one of the next Avenues due for completion in 2021) into the communities on the north-western fringes of the city centre. The proposed Glasgow Avenues Plus activity will further extend this connected network through and out into the wider city, provide short and long term cycle storage at key transport nodes and develop community based cycle initiatives across Glasgow providing the opportunity for all abilities all ages to participate.

8. North Ayrshire Council: Coastal Connections

Coastal Connections aims to improve the walking, cycling and public transport links between Irvine, Stevenston, Saltcoats and Ardrossan by creating new, segregated routes, bridges and new links between the towns. It will contribute to the regeneration of the areas, by creating placemaking hubs, improving waymarking and provide improved access to schools, employment areas, town centres, housing areas and key attractions including the

Maritime Museum and new Portal leisure centre.

9. Perth and Kinross Council: Perth City Region Cycle Network 

The creation of eight new, safe and direct walking and cycling routes into the city centre which will encourage more active travel and help improve the look and feel of local areas. The routes would link to public transport and National Cycle Network routes in the area.

10. South Ayrshire Council: Accessible Ayr

Accessible Ayr is a project to transform how people access Ayr town centre and how the town centre links to key destinations in the area, including local attractions and residential areas. The project reimagines Burns Statue Square with the potential to link the rail and bus infrastructure through a new combined public transport interchange.

Find out more about Sustrans’ Community Links PLUS competition

Update 31/08/2019: Community Links PLUS has become part of Places for Everyone. Details for the new programme can be found here.

To mark Clean Air Day, Sustrans Scotland are inviting members of the public to share their views on the current conditions and issues along the streets and the types of improvements they would like to see, as part of a new “Meadows to George Street: Streets for People” project.

This initial engagement from the public in the project forms part of a series of events and activities over the summer which will gather the views of anyone who uses the route or who has an interest in it. People are invited to visit the project webpage to sign up for updates and share their views via the online Placecheck tool.

“Meadows to George Street: Streets for People” is funded by the Scottish Government through Sustrans Scotland’s “Community Links PLUS design competition”. It aims to transform this busy transport route in the heart of historic Edinburgh by significantly enhancing the quality of walking, cycling and public spaces. The project will extend along Hanover Street, The Mound, George IV Bridge, Forrest Road, Bristo Place and Teviot Place.

Sustrans Scotland head of infrastructure, Matthew Macdonald said:

“The ‘Meadows to George Street’ project will vastly improve the experience for people walking and cycling in Edinburgh and help create safe, coherent and attractive routes through the city centre.

“The City of Edinburgh Council have demonstrated real vision in their proposal and has shown they are keen to improve journeys for people on foot and on bikes, of all abilities, across the capital.”

As part of a City Summit to mark the International Clean Air Day, City of Edinburgh Council will hold a series of events, including closing one of Edinburgh’s central streets to cars and having a procession led by Scotland’s Transport Minister, Humza Yousaf.

Sustrans Scotland’s National Director, John Lauder said:

“Clean air has never been more important, and the need for action never more urgent.  Walking and cycling are all steps people can take to do their bit in reducing emissions, while improving their health. In contrast, poor quality air has been shown to cause a whole range of health problems. The best and easiest way to deal with air pollution in cities is to reduce the number of cars in congested urban spaces.”

Find out more about how we are working towards improving air quality

Read more about our Community Links PLUS Projects  

Update 31/08/2019: Community Links PLUS has become part of Places for Everyone. Details for the new programme can be found here.

Sustrans recognises the importance of bringing partners together from across the country to share learning and best practice which is why, four years ago, we started our Raising The Standards Day.

Packed with interactive workshops, presentations and cycle study tours, the day encourages partners and stakeholders who we work with through our Community Links grant funding, to think about how we can recalibrate our streets in favour of people.

Raising future standards

In light of the Scottish Government’s recent commitment to double the budget for active travel, we have never had a better opportunity to raise the standards and ambition across Community Links and Community Links PLUS programmes.

This increase in funding is an opportunity to demonstrate what we can do for our communities when we design places and spaces that work for people, and not just vehicles.

There will be a lot of eyes on our sector over the next three years, and we want to give them something positive to talk about.

Working with our partners, it is essential that we deliver well planned projects that link communities to infrastructure through exemplary community engagement, and bring together strategic partnerships across sectors, organisations and departments, to maximise our reach and impact.

Making a difference to policy

The projects that we have already delivered in partnership through our infrastructure programmes, have and are influencing key decision makers across Scotland.

This was brought home to me when chairing the 2017 Community Links PLUS panel. Roy Brannen, Chief Executive of Transport Scotland, said he was blown away by the wealth of information, the quality, and the amount of hard work that had gone into the five proposals.

As time will demonstrate all five proposals are obviously worth funding, but I’m also sure they had a large part to play in influencing the government to double the budget for active travel.

Making a difference to people

Sustrans’ work is not only making a difference at these political levels of influence. Crucially we’re also making a difference to peoples’ lives.

For example you only need to look at the River Lossie Cycle Path in Moray, which is bringing out the locals’ inner child and breathing life into a long forgotten mode of active travel, the rollerskates. Or the resident of Milngavie who bought a bike after construction of the Bear’s Way. Or the Doctor in Dalbeattie who started prescribing walking and cycling after we built a shared use path.

Our work enables healthier lifestyles and we must continue to do so, ensuring that we’re reaching the communities that need it the most.

Moving forward

Our recent ‘Transport Poverty in Scotland’ report highlighted that more than one million people in this country are at risk of transport poverty – where a lack of affordable and accessible transport is a barrier to accessing essential services and work.

We can’t take our eye off the ball, and we must focus on delivering high quality projects that will lead to an ‘active nation’.

And, working together with partners and the Scottish Government, we will continue to deliver ambitious, high quality projects that will help enable more people to walk and cycle for more of the journeys they make every day.