Graeme Dey MSP has welcomed the awarding of £160,000 to Angus Council from the Scottish Government’s Spaces for People fund aimed at supporting public health, active travel and road safety.
In Mr Dey’s constituency, this funding will be used to install temporary 20mph speed restrictions in all four burgh towns and in Friockheim and Liff; as well as carry out the necessary feasibility studies and options appraisals for the “lives-changing” project and is another boost in the promotion of active travel and road safety in Angus.
A follow-up bid of £629,000 has been submitted for further temporary 20mph speed restrictions in six villages (Glamis, Letham, Newbigging and Newtyle in Angus South are covered by this bid) and for physical intervention measures in all burgh towns, which will include barriers and signage to promote physical distancing within the new areas where temporary 20mph speed restrictions are operating and in each school cluster across Angus.
In partnership with Sustrans Scotland, the SNP Scottish Government has now awarded nearly £30 million to pop-up infrastructure projects across the country to encourage temporary active travel routes that enable physical distancing during lockdown.
The fund aims to support a rapid increase in active travel rates in recent months and encourage more Scots to continue walking, wheeling or cycling in the future – which in turn helps to manage demand on our public transport network.
Commenting, Graeme Dey MSP said:
I am delighted that the Scottish Government is taking steps to support active travel. This will be a real cash boost for Angus Council, and I hope it will help encourage local people to get out cycling or walking for their everyday journeys.
This initiative is exactly the kind of progressive approach we need if we want to see more sustainable forms of travel here in Angus. £50,000 has been secured for feasibility studies for the ‘lives-changing’ project and is a boost in the promotion of active travel and road safety in Angus.
A further £110,000 has also been awarded to install temporary 20mph speed restrictions in Carnoustie, Monifieth, Kirriemuir, Friockheim and Liff as efforts to make Spaces for People are ramped up
I have been engaging with Angus Council on the issue of speeding in Liff following concerns being raised with me by local residents, so I welcome Angus Council securing this funding from the Scottish Government to take this work forward.
John Lauder, Deputy Chief Executive Officer of Sustrans and Executive Director for Scotland said:
Giving people safe space in which to physically distance while they get about their day by walking, wheeling and cycling is vitally important as we look to normalise the increasing rate of people travelling actively.
The fast pace of delivery and the quick uptake by local authorities and other statutory bodies in utilising the Spaces for People funding is testament to the appetite in Scotland to make walking, wheeling and cycling as safe as possible.
