Active Travel plan gets green light

A plan to redefine active travel options in Liverpool over the coming decade has been given the green light.

The Council’s Cabinet has agreed to adopt a new Local Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plan (LCWIP).

Liverpool’s LCWIP has identified important cycle routes and walking zones/routes, where improvements to walking and cycling facilities should be focused over the next 10 years.

The document will also guide the design of both council-led and other development schemes. The primary objective for the LCWIP is to enable an increase in the number of people walking and cycling in Liverpool.

For cycling, the LCWIP has generated a list of 13 strategic routes and 30 primary routes, for which 6 have been prioritised as short-term and 11 medium-term.

For walking, the LCWIP has identified 36 core walking zones, with 15 identified as short-term priorities and 11 identified as medium term.

The adoption comes as the Council begins work transforming two pop-up cycle lanes in Toxteth – and the creation of a new cycle lane connecting routes from the city centre to Otterspool and Sefton Park.

Liverpool’s plan also complements the Liverpool City Region LCWIP and supports the plans of Active Travel England (ATE). It also integrates with wider city transport and planning policy including the City Transport Plan, Public Realm Strategy, the city centre mobility strategy and the Local Plan.

The city’s Transport Plan aims to address the fact that almost two thirds of all journeys in the city are car journeys. This generates almost half a million tonnes of CO₂ emissions each year and is a core plank of the Council’s ambitions to achieve Net Zero.

The Transport Plan identifies a number of interventions which could help the Council reduce those emissions by 50%, as well increase the number of cycle journeys ten-fold by 2027.

Councillor Dan Barrington, Liverpool City Council’s Cabinet Member for Environment and Climate Change, said: “Liverpool has all the ingredients be a great cycling and walking city – and this plan sets out the route map to achieving that over the next 10 years.

“There’s been some great strides made in recent years, post-Covid, to invest in more active travel infrastructure but we know we have a lot more to do to connect up the network so residents and visitors can move around the city seamlessly.

“I’m delighted we’ve now adopted this plan, which has clearly set out the challenges and the opportunities to improve Liverpool’s active travel offer and help reduce the number of car journeys which will improve everyone’s health and the city’s air quality.

“I’m looking forward to seeing all the identified schemes being delivered over the coming decade.”

Simon O’Brien, Liverpool City Region’s Walking and Cycling Commissioner, said: “This plan is a fantastic piece of work which spells out exactly what needs to be done to make Liverpool an active travel nirvana.

“Not only is it coherent and easy to understand, it also fits in with the wider active travel plans for the city region.

“I’m thrilled the Council has adopted the plan. Now we can crack on implementing it and making it easier for how all move around this great city of ours, and bringing our local amenities and assets like our beautiful waterfront and parks easier to access.

“Ultimately this plan benefits us all, individually and collectively, at a physical and mental health level, and on an environmental basis which crucially will also benefit future generations too.”

Find out more at: https://councillors.liverpool.gov.uk/…/Appendix%201.pdf