REVISED plans to ease traffic congestion in Stratford have been revealed.
Warwickshire County Council and Stratford District Council have published the revised Stratford-upon-Avon Area Transport Strategy following a public consultation earlier this year.
The strategy has been prepared jointly by the two authorities to set out the general direction for the future development of the town’s transport network.
It identifies a range of approaches to ease congestion, reduce traffic in central areas, improve air quality, protect and enhance the historic core and wider areas of the town and improve the opportunities for travel by public transport, cycle and on foot.
The strategy was developed following a commitment made by the two councils at the series of Stratford Transport Summits led by Stratford MP Nadhim Zahawi.
The consultation took place during February and March and saw some 1,000 responses from townspeople and organisations. This feedback has been reviewed and analysed and a report published alongside the revised strategy – both of which can be viewed at warwickshire.gov.uk/stratfordtransportstrategy.
The revised strategy will be presented to members of both the county and district council in the new year.
County council transport spokesman Coun Jeff Clarke said: “The revised transport strategy embodies the ambitions of the county and district councils and how the existing and emerging transport issues in Stratford can be addressed.
“The consultation process has given us a strong sense of the views of the residents and the people who use the transport system.
“We will now be building on our recent success in securing £2.4million from the Department for Transport towards the Birmingham Road scheme to deliver the transport system that Stratford needs.”
District council infrastructure spokesman Coun Peter Richards also welcomed the publication of the revised strategy.
He said: “The high volume of responses to the consultation reflects the passion the local community has for the future of our town.
“Our shared vision is for Stratford to be a better place to live, work and visit and this transport strategy will help us achieve this. The challenge now is to deliver on the strategic ambition contained within the strategy, a process that we are already actively engaged in.
“The funding needed to deliver improvements on Birmingham Road has been secured and a scheme will be implemented in 2019. The district council has also recently agreed the principle for a cycle hire scheme and we hope to roll this out in the first half of 2018.”
Mr Zahawi was equally delighted to see progress towards tackling transport issues in the town.
He said: “This is a significant outcome of the process I initiated in 2014 by holding a series of summits to bring together residents and representatives of local government in order to address the town’s chronic traffic problems.
“I want to pay tribute to the amazing efforts of county and district councillors and officers for their superb efforts in delivering this strategy.”
