Coventry City Council is set to receive £110.9 million funding towards sustainable transport after a bid as part of the Department for Transport’s (DfT) City Regional Sustainable Transport Fund, which is being administered to and allocated by city regions.
Cllr Jim O’Boyle, cabinet member for jobs, regeneration and climate change, said: “This funding pot will allow the council to deliver on its long-term transport strategy, making our plans for Coventry a reality and creating a stronger, more dynamic public transport and active travel network.”
He added the schemes would benefit the whole city with Coventry Very Light Rail (VLR) boosting jobs while other proposals worked to improve air quality and provide better, more active and more sustainable ways of getting around the city, reports the Coventry Observer.
“Taken together with recent announcements on the West Midlands’ gigafactory, vehicle charge points and Coventry’s future status as the UK’s first all-electric bus city, this puts Coventry firmly at the forefront of the green industrial revolution.”
Coventry’s funding will be split across four major areas in addition to highways maintenance, road safety, and West Midlands-wide projects. The Coventry Very Light Rail (VLR) has made great progress and the CRSTS funding will be used to fund a city centre demonstrator (between the railway station and Pool Meadow bus station) as well as funding ongoing research development and enabling development work to continue on further routes in the city.
The Coventry VLR project will provide an affordable tram system for the city which the council says will be a game changer in the drive to ‘decarbonise’ transport to help tackle climate change.
It will attract investment and jobs into the area through the creation of a West Midlands and UK-based supply chain, said the report.
The Coventry South transport package will support the Gigafactory and other commercial development to the south of the city through improvements – principally to London Road – to include a cycle superhighway, improved facilities for walking and cycling at key junctions and bus priority measures.
The Tile Hill project will provide a 250-space car park and mobility hub to integrating, cycling, bus, direct responsive transport and e-mobility with rail services at Tile Hill station.
The Foleshill package will complement the Local Air Quality Action Plan, funding projects which aim to promote public transport and active travel as well as reduce traffic on Foleshill Road. The principal element will be improvements at Blue Ribbon island on the A444.
