Recommendations made to slow traffic and increase provision for pedestrians and cyclists
A suite of recommendations, creating safer spaces to walk, wheel and cycle in Crawford and Elvanfoot have been published in a Feasibility Study.
Recommendations include a number of improvements being undertaken and to be considered by South Lanarkshire Council after the implementation of speed surveys, plus recommendations around place making and gateway features that it is hoped that the community can progress.
A number of improvements are already in place, including the installation of a new bus stop on Carlisle Road, Crawford, funded by Strathclyde Passenger Transport (SPT) and additional 40mph repeater signage and painted road gateway markings in Elvanfoot.
Additional recommendations have been made around speed sensors, a safe road crossing in Crawford, pavement widths, surfacing and dropped kerbs in Crawford, overnight parking and amenity lighting in Crawford, as well as fixed mirrors in Elvanfoot. A community process has been highlighted that may put forward a case for reducing the existing speed limit of 40mph to 30mph in Elvanfoot.
The Study, progressed as part of 2021/22 Make Your Way sustainable travel focussed project was supported by Paths for All’s Smarter Choices Smarter Places, Strathclyde Passenger Transport and South Lanarkshire Council’s Renewable Energy Fund. It was managed by Rural Development Trust’s Community Action Lanarkshire programme with contractors Alan Jones Associates leading on the Feasibility Study.
The findings were consolidated through numerous stakeholder interviews, a Community Street Audit, two Primary School workshops and an online survey – of which 71 were returned.
Gail Coulter, Crawford and Elvanfoot Community Council, says, “The feasibility study will bring about recognisable change in the villages relating to traffic speeds and pedestrian safety, enabling more journeys by foot and by wheel."
She continues, "The Community Council welcome South Lanarkshire Council implementing the recommendations made in the study and liaising re the installation of gateway features and other ideas that the residents have supported in the study.”
The year-long programme also included Bikeability for Crawford Primary School pupils, a Community Cycling Day and associated activities, the provision of active travel booklets to each household in the area, and the installation of an active travel mapboard beside the village centre bus stop in Crawford, highlighting existing walking and cycling routes, their accessibility and local community facilities.
The full Feasibility can be found here. The next Crawford and Elvanfoot Community Council meeting will take place in Crawford Village Hall on 17 April at 7:15pm.