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Active Travel Woodbridge
In Spring 2023, Suffolk County Council was awarded £5m from Active Travel England to deliver improvements for walking, wheeling and cycling within Woodbridge. As we are continuing to seek funding for the interventions in Melton, it has therefore been decided to change the project name to “Active Travel Woodbridge” to reflect the current work being undertaken. We will provide further updates regarding additional funding as the project progresses. We will continue to engage with residents and all relevant stakeholders including those covering the boundaries of the project area.
Sign Up To Our Newsletter
Keep up to date with the developments on Active Travel Woodbridge via our monthly newsletter. Hard copies versions of the newsletter will be distributed by Woodbridge Town Council. To sign up for our online newsletter please click here.
Active Travel Woodbridge Project
Suffolk County Council (SCC) wants to create people friendly streets in Woodbridge for everyone to enjoy. Whether you are walking, cycling, scooting or sitting down to enjoy the surroundings, SCC wants to give everyone the opportunity to love the outside more with cleaner, prettier and better-connected streets in Woodbridge.
Background
In March 2022, SCC was one of only 19 local authorities to be awarded funding by Active Travel England (sponsored by the Department for Transport) to develop a Feasibility Study for setting out how a walking and cycling project could be implemented in Woodbridge. The funding was awarded after SCC submitted a bid to the Department for Transport’s call for Expressions of Interest for areas outside of London that would benefit from investment in active travel.
Presently, walking and cycling projects exist in three areas in London and provide a holistic approach to improving access to an area for active travel, whilst also balancing the needs of public transport and private car users.
So Far...
Last year, over a period of six months, Suffolk County Council completed a Feasibility Study for the Active Travel Woodbridge project which looked at traffic flows, current walking, wheeling and cycling infrastructure, and people's travel patterns to see what might work in the area. It also looked at best practice elsewhere in the UK, as well as in Europe, where they’ve embraced active travel and seen commerce and tourism benefit.
The interventions outlined in the Feasibility Study are proposals only and have not been finalised. They all support active travel, but the county council recognises that for some people cars are essential, and so none of the proposed interventions will prevent motorised access.
SCC has now secured more than £5million in funding from Active Travel England to develop the walking, wheeling and cycling schemes in the south and central
areas of Woodbridge for the project.
Further work is needed to develop the interventions which involves more engagement with residents, businesses and visitors. This will include further engagement events, as well as a formal public consultation on the project, planned to take place at the end of the year.
Feasibility Study
Hard copy versions of the Feasibility Study are available for members of the public to view at Melton Parish Council and Woodbridge Town Council offices. Alternatively, an online version can be read by clicking here.
Click here to read a summary of the Feasibility Study which provides an overview of the study area, barriers to connectivity and the suggested interventions to make improvements.
Timeline
March 2022: SCC has been awarded funding to develop a Feasibility Study to improve the walking and cycling infrastructure and public spaces in Woodbridge and Melton.
July 2022 – December 2022: Data collection and engagement with the local community.
March 2023: Feasibility study submitted to the Department for Transport (Active Travel England).
Spring 2023: SCC was awarded just over £5 million in funding from Active Travel England to develop walking and cycling schemes for the project. The team at SCC will continue to bid for further funding for the project.
Summer 2023 / Autumn 2023: Engagement events in Woodbridge and Melton where businesses, community groups, local residents, school pupils and parents have the opportunity to find out more about the project and discuss how more people can be encouraged to get out and about and enjoy the local area on foot and by bike. Feedback from these sessions will feed into the development of the project’s proposed interventions.
February 2024: Public consultation on the Active Travel Woodbridge project.
Engagement Events
Thank you for everyone’s feedback. We are pleased so many people in the community want to contribute to the project around existing travel behaviours and what they would like to see come out of the idea of better connections in the local area and getting more people out and about to enjoy the outside.
If you would still like to provide some feedback on the project before the formal consultation and have not had the opportunity to do this please do get in touch with us either by email atw@suffolk.gov.uk or you can write to us at Active Travel Woodbridge, Transport Strategy, Suffolk County Council, Endeavour House, 8 Russell Road, Ipswich IP1 2BX
Keep Up To Date
For all the latest on the project, search ‘Active Travel Woodbridge’ on Facebook. Keep up to date with the developments on the Active Travel Woodbridge project via our monthly newsletter. Hard copies versions of the newsletter will be distributed by Woodbridge Town Council and Melton Parish Council. To sign up for our online newsletter please click here.
Get In Touch
If you have some feedback on the project and would like to get in touch, please email atw@suffolk.gov.uk.