Residents and visitors are being urged to have their say and help shape new plans to improve the quality of walking and cycling street design in the Cowes, Northwood and Gurnard area.
Cowes Town Council, Northwood Parish Council and Gurnard Parish Council have come together to commission an area-wide Local Walking and Cycling Infrastructure Plan, or LCWIP for short.
Changing infrastructure to make safer
LCWIPs are strategic plans that identify key routes and zones where changes to the infrastructure or the implementation of more walking and cycling friendly policies can provide higher quality, safer environments for people to get around on foot, wheelchair, mobility scooter and bike, helping to create a healthier environment and more inclusive community.
A particular focus is on routes to important local destinations like schools, shops, places of work and medical centres.
Ainslie: Local people are the experts on their area
The project is being facilitated by Cowes-based sustainable travel consultancy People Powered CIC and central to the development of the plan is community input, as Will Ainslie, director at People Powered explains,
“Local people are the experts on their area; what’s good, what’s bad, what are the issues that prevent them from walking and cycling around the area more and how they’d like to see things made better.
“Be it wider pavements, dedicated cycle tracks, improved crossings on certain junctions, slower traffic speeds…this is a great opportunity for people to contribute their views and we want as many people as possible to get involved.”
View the interactive map
People Powered have set up an interactive map of the Cowes / Northwood / Gurnard area to make it easy for people to indicate what improvements they’d like to see and where.
The map is available on the Website until 31st January 2022.
In addition to the Web-based map, open evenings are being planned for locations in all three parishes. Dates, times and venues for the drop-in events will be published on the Website as soon as they are finalised.
Comments can also be sent in by email to: [email protected] or by post to:
LCWIP
Cowes Town Council
Northwood House
Ward Avenue
Cowes PO31 8AZ
Collecting travel data
As well as gathering the views of the community, People Powered will be collecting travel data from key trip generators and existing travel patterns in the Cowes area, before combining all the information to put forward proposals for a network of routes and area wide improvements.
Completion of the LCWIP is scheduled for early April 2022. Communities that have developed an LCWIP will be prioritised by the Department for Transport when it comes to seeking investment funding to help realise the plans.
For more information on LCWIPs and latest national street design guidance, visit the Website.
For further information about the project, contact Will Ainslie on 01983 898055 or email: [email protected]
News shared by Will on behalf of People Powered CIC. Ed
