Last month, Swindon Borough Council reported that it had received more than £200,000 from the Government to make changes to Swindon’s road network to make it easier for people to walk and cycle. This is part of the wider £250m Emergency Active Travel Fund (EATF) which allows local authorities to facilitate social distancing as the economy begins to recover from the pandemic.

Work has taken place to make temporary changes to two town centre locations – Commercial Road and Station Road.

Commercial Road progress:

• Closed one lane of traffic on Farnsby Street/Commercial Road to make a one-way cycle lane to run with the flow of vehicles. This will connect the Southern Flyer route on Farnsby Street to the Commercial Road/Regent Circus junction.
• Removed a parking bay on Crombey Street to make it easier to use the cycle lane for cyclists in the other direction.

Station Road progress:

• Closed one lane of traffic on Station Road to make a one-way cycle lane to run with the flow of vehicles. This will connect the Western Flyer route on Station Road to the railway station and Wellington Street junction.

Cllr Maureen Penny, Cabinet Member for Highways, Maintenance and Waste Services, said: “I am delighted to say that work has taken place on two of the schemes and that these changes will make it much easier for people in Swindon to practice social distancing.”

As well as making it easier for people to cycle in town during the Covid recovery, the schemes are testing out the future vision of the Town Centre Movement Strategy.

Further schemes include introducing cycle lanes on Marlborough Road between Old Town and Coate Water, improving the surface on the Old Town Railway Path, which is prone to flooding, and enhancing Kingsdown Lane, which provides a useful traffic free link between Blunsdon and South Marston Industrial estate.