Active Travel Fund

On 9 May 2020, the Secretary of State for Transport announced a £250 million Emergency Active Travel budget to support the introduction of traffic calming measures, wider pavements and more cycle lanes to facilitate social-distancing within town and city centres in response to the COVID19 pandemic.

Statutory guidance has been published telling councils how they can reallocate road space to achieve two main objectives; to encourage cycling and walking and enable social distancing.

The fund was initially split into two phases:

Phase 1 - Immediate network issues which can be responded to immediately, such as temporarily widening footways and closing roads with barriers and cones.
Phase 2 – More significant improvements which will take longer to design, consult and construct. These works will be more permanent in nature and will build upon existing programmes to help support cycling and walking (eg cycle lane installation, permanent footway widening etc). Find out more information about phase 2.

Further funding rounds have since followed and the criteria set by government has broadly followed that of phase 2, with the added requirement that all schemes put forward must be aligned with local cycling and walking infrastructure plans (LCWIP) and all schemes are to be developed and approved in consultation with Active Travel England.

This funding forms part of the Governments £2 billion commitment set out in Gear Change to deliver a step change in the provision of active travel and better streets for walking, wheeling and cycling.

Read on for details of the funding awarded for each phase, schemes delivered to date and proposals across the county currently under development.

Funding details

At the end of May, the Department for Transport (DfT) announced the indicative allocations for Norfolk.

Phase 1:

On 26 June 2020, the DfT confirmed Norfolk’s phase 1 allocation as £295,500.

Phase 2:

In November 2020 Norfolk was awarded a further £1.577m. Find out more information about phase 2.

Phase 3:

In May 2022 we were awarded £995k for a further 3 schemes in Norfolk. Find out more about phase 3.

Phase 4:

In May 2023 we were awarded £1.975m for 8 additional schemes, as well as a further £739k to support delivery of Phase 3 and circa £100k revenue funding to support further active travel initiatives across the county. Find out more about phase 4.

Schemes delivered to date:

King's Lynn A148 Gaywood Road – new segregated crossing
King's Lynn town centre – cycle parking
Heartsease Lane, Norwich – new segregated crossing
St Williams Way, Thorpe St Andrew – new crossing and mandatory cycle lanes
Great Yarmouth – new cycle parking
County Wide Market Town – new cycle parking