Decision details

That the Cabinet Member:

a)    Consider the petitions in conjunction with the Traffic Regulation Order (TRO) consultation undertaken for the Crow Lane Closure. (Referenced in the linked Cabinet Member report “Traffic Regulation Order Consultation Outcomes” – 8 November 2022.)

b)    Declines the petition against the closure of Crow Lane, Chesterfield.

Commitment to the detailed design and subsequent construction of the scheme was already given by Cabinet in October 2021 (minute No. 175/21 refers).

          A further consultation exercise was undertaken for the TROs with a majority still in support of the proposals even when considering the deficit in objectors from the petitions.

          Grant funding has been received by the Department for Transport (DfT) with some of this already spent on the design process along with monitoring equipment already installed. Construction is beginning shortly on other sections of the scheme.

          Funding could potentially be clawed back by the Department for Transports / Active Travel England if these sections do not proceed, as they were the “bold” parts of the package which helped gain the grant funding.

          There is a risk of future active travel funding application outcomes being negatively impacted, should the overall scheme not be delivered in-line with the original proposals as per the grant funding.

Making Crow Lane One Way (into Town)

Whilst simplifying the dangers to pedestrians and cyclists with only one direction of vehicle traffic to contend with, this does not address the issue of the lack of road space for multiple users and would require pedestrians or cyclists to continue to stop and move out of the way onto a grass verge while a vehicle passes.

          Widen the route to allow for a cycle lane

This would require considerable extra cost to construct over the road space re-allocation of the existing proposal which is mostly a lining and signing exercise. Any construction would likely be within the tree root protection zone of all the trees lining the road and would require removal of trees to implement. Additionally, the highway boundary does not give sufficient space to create the amenity within it so would require landowner permissions or use of compulsory purchase powers at an even larger cost.

          Use alternative routes for the cycle track – Dark Lane / Golf Course route / Hady Hill etc

The gradient on the alternative routes are worse than Crow Lane. They are also significantly longer routes and the Council wishes for people to view the route as the most direct and choose to make that change to their mode of travel. A slightly longer route for a car user is not as off-putting as it is to a walker or cyclist.

          Do nothing

          Crow Lane has been identified in the early stages of the project as a candidate for a walking and cycling route due to the links it provides between the station and Chesterfield Royal Hospital. The emergency closure during the Covid pandemic saw a large increase in use by walkers and cyclists. Without closure there is insufficient space to create a facility whereby users other than vehicles can travel safely along the lane due to the limited road width available.

          Reduce speed limit to 30mph / 20mph – Introduce Speed Humps and discourage HGVs

          Crow Lane is so narrow and in places overgrown that speed surveys show that the majority of vehicles do not travel with excessive speeds, see table 1 below;

          Table 1. Average Speeds on Crow Lane     

          With such low average speeds the introduction of lower speed limits is not seen as a requirement, those that choose to travel faster would likely do so anyway and enforcement would be difficult to implement in this area.

          Installation of speed humps would increase the potential for loss of control incidents on a hill for vehicles and cyclists alike so this would be undesirable on a safety front.

          Additional signs to discourage HGVs using the route is a possibility, however, very few HGVs use the route due to the single lane nature with limited passing places – analysing vehicle data from September and October 2022; 0.25% of vehicles using the route were HGVs.

          With any combination or all of the interventions above it would still be impossible to create a safe walking and cycling route alongside vehicles due to the limited road space available.