THE temporary closure of a road is among the first "active travel" measures implemented in Bradford in response to Covid 19.

Bradford Council has just received £614,000 from the Government to implement a number of temporary measures to support social distancing.

The money will be used to install pop up cycle lanes and make more of the District's pedestrian crossings automatic, starting today.

And one of the more drastic measures will be the closure of part of Shay Lane in Heaton to traffic.

The Council says the narrow road has become a popular route for people taking their "daily walk" and cyclists during lockdown - and closing the route to traffic will make it safer for this to continue.

Bradford's share of the first wave of funding was announced yesterday, and the Council says the schemes will start today and continue to be introduced in the coming weeks.

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The first phase of funding is for temporary "active travel" measures to encourage people to walk and cycle more, reducing the need for public transport at a time when passenger numbers are restricted due to social distancing and allowing people to walk and cycle while still remaining two metres apart.

The second pot of funding, due to be awarded later in the summer, will fund longer-term, more permanent schemes.

Plans include the delivery of pop-up cycle lanes, improvements to cycle storage facilities across the District and upgrades to an additional forty street crossings to allow automatic changes to benefit pedestrians.

The funding allocated to Bradford forms part of an overall pot worth £2.513 million given to the West Yorkshire Combined Authority, to support the implementation of a range of ambitious proposals across the region.

Commenting on the announcement, Councillor Alex Ross-Shaw, Executive Member for Regeneration, Planning and Transport, who is leading on the programme, said: “We are really pleased that the Government has recognised our ambition to further improve walking and cycling routes across the district to provide an alternative to using public transport during the Covid-19 pandemic.

"The new schemes we are implementing will help those who need to move around to access shops, workplaces and services safely, whilst adhering to social distancing.

“We know that recent figures from Public Health England show a high number of infections in Bradford, and this makes it even more important that we continue to invest in these key measures. Now we are getting the clear information we need on cases from central government, we can work to ensure measures are put in place in the right areas of the district, and to support the most at risk members of our community.

“We remain steadfast in our commitment to ensuring we put all of the right measures in place to limit the spread of Covid-19, and we will keep making the case for further funding as a council to make Bradford safe for people.”

The public and local community groups were invited to make suggestions on how Bradford Council can support safe movement around the district, through a web portal launched in early June. The portal has received over 100 responses and further suggestions for the Council can still be submitted here

Despite the high number of submissions from the public only two have so far been listed as "progressing to deliverable."

These include a suggestion to reduce the time pedestrians have to wait at a crossing on Queens Road and a scheme to restrict through traffic on Hall Ings.