Hampshire residents are being asked to feedback information in a public consultation that seeks to pinpoint locations where there are obstacles, such as bollards, that make getting around difficult for people who have restricted mobility and need to use a mobility scooter, or for those pushing prams or riding cargo bikes for example.
Hampshire County Council want people to tell us where there are:
• Crossing points that are difficult to use because they don’t have dropped kerbs and tactile paving
• Dropped kerbs which are not level with the road
• Staggered or chicane barriers
• Bollards placed too closely together
• Pavements made narrow by items such as guard railings, lampposts and signposts
• Misleading or unnecessary cycle signs and where new or additional cycle parking may be needed.
Responses to the survey will help the County Council to secure the funding to make improvements to roads and pavements by providing evidence to support applications for Government funding, or in negotiating contributions from developers building new housing developments.
Information gathered through this survey will be key towards the delivery of the County Council’s recently adopted Local Transport Plan 4 – which aims to influence and shape the way people travel over the next ten or more years -boosting economic prosperity, reducing carbon pollution, promoting healthy lifestyles and building stronger communities.
Central to the Local Transport Plan 4 are the following two principles, which are intended to guide what the County Council does to improve travel and transport infrastructure for the future:
• To widen the choice of travel options that people can use.
• To provide a transport system that puts people first and creates high quality and prosperous places.
The Plan finds a balance between the movement of vehicles with the needs of people. It sets out frameworks to guide future transport planning and the policies that would be applied to create thriving and attractive places where residents can travel around easily.
Proposed schemes for further development are also included in the plan such as the roll out of electric vehicle charging infrastructure, higher quality bus services in urban areas, better quality cycle facilities, changes to our roads to reduce congestion and improvements to high streets and town centres so they are more accessible and safer for shared use by pedestrians, cyclists as well as those pushing prams and those in wheelchairs.
