An Active Travel scheme in Southport Town Centre,  which has been used more than 2,500,000 times for walking and cycling journeys, is set to be made permanent.

Monitoring of the scheme, between Southport's Queens Road and Talbot Street, shows that almost three quarters of all journeys along the stretch were made by people walking, wheeling or cycling. This includes almost 158,000 cycling journeys and more than 2.3m pedestrian journeys.”

Accidents reduced by 40%

Data along the route also revealed a 40% reduction in the number of accidents since the scheme was introduced.

Surveys of people walking, wheeling and cycling on the route, showed that almost 9 in 10 journeys were for everyday activities such as going to the shops, going to work or education, or accessing important services.

Welcomed by residents

Feedback from the extensive consultation that has taken place shows that many people have welcomed the scheme. Residents say it has helped to encourage active travel journeys and reduce nuisance parking. Responses from a small number of businesses say more needs to be done.

A report to Sefton Council’s Cabinet Member for Locality Services seeks approval to keep the temporary active travel infrastructure in place. It also contains proposals for future improvements, in response to comments made.

The report can be downloaded using this link.

Making significant benefits permanent

A Sefton Council spokesperson said: "With the majority of residents who responded to the consultation saying they were very or fairly satisfied with the route, the high numbers of uses and a 40% reduction in the number of accidents since its introduction, the Council is keen to make the significant benefits of this scheme permanent.

“By encouraging people to make local journeys by walking, cycling or wheeling, the scheme is contributing to local people’s health, the local and wider environment, as well as making safer conditions.

“And it is supporting improvements to connectivity throughout the town and its public realm alongside the work of the Town Deal Les Transformation des Southport scheme."

Extensive consultation on the scheme followed Government guidance. As well as usage, safety data, and user surveys, the Council invited over 1,000 local residents and businesses to provide their honest feedback.

Further improvements

The Council spokesperson continued: “While the scheme has been a success and has proved popular with many people locally, we do not consider this to be evidence that the scheme is perfect and are listening to all feedback received to see what further improvements can be made.

“Some businesses who responded raised concerns and the Cabinet Member is being asked to support steps to explore short, medium and long term improvements to address those issues."

You can use this link to find out more about walking and cycling in Sefton.