Fifty-one schemes to improve road safety across Fenland – including near schools in Wisbech and a pedestrian crossing in Station Road March - have all been ditched by council bosses with not one being chosen to get a share of £3 million funding.
Accident blackspots in Burrowmoor Road and Upwell Road, March, a pedestrian crossing in Park Street, Chatteris, a bridge at Whittlesey rail station and “key areas” near schools in Wisbech were all rejected.
It forms a stark contrast from across the border in East Cambridgeshire, where two of their schemes in Ely and on the A142 were chosen to be improved.
Footpath, cycleway and public transport improvements were among 150 schemes throughout the county proposed for Integrated Transport Block (ITB) funding – with only eight chosen.
A point scoring system meant that areas were ranked for their “safety benefits”.
Two projects – a cycleway in March town centre and bus stop improvements in Stonald Road, Whittlesey – were negatively marked as “not being expected to benefit road safety”.
A block of cycle improvement schemes in March also didn’t make the cut, with routes planned for Wisbech Road, Whitemoor Prison and Twenty Foot Road.
Five schemes just missed out on a slice of funding - including extending the footway in Parson Drove to Sealey’s Lane in Wisbech – but were still deemed as “existing accident cluster sites likely to deliver significant benefits”.
Twenty-one were ranked as having “some improvement to reliability” of journey times and four “no change” or benefit to be had.
Graham Hughes, executive director of place and economy, wrote in the report: “Eligible schemes are assessed and prioritised. Integrated transport schemes either provide direct improvements to the local road network or look to encourage a shift to sustainable transport modes.
“Greater weighting is given to added road safety benefits.
“Eligible schemes assessed but not proposed for funding allocation in 2019/20 will remain in the Transport Investment Plan to be considered for other appropriate funding sources or for the next round of ITB funding.”
The ITB funding was reported to the highway and community infrastructure committee at Cambridgeshire County Council on December 3.
It comes as the combined authority is now responsible for local transport plan (LTP) and any associated funding, including ITB grants.
It will be discussed in full at the economy and environment committee this Thursday (January 10).
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