Connecting Cheltenham strategy report

Delivering Liveable Streets is important for a range of reasons including mode shift, accommodating growth, improving health and maintaining and enhancing the character of Cheltenham.

Liveable Streets is an approach that will be delivered incrementally. All interventions in the highway should be designed to support the delivery of Liveable Streets.

The characteristics that will make Liveable Streets in Cheltenham are as follows:

• Walking is enjoyable and feels safe for all ages and abilities
• Cycling is enjoyable and feels safe for all ages and abilities
• Crossing is safe and convenient for all
• Interesting and, in places, delightful
• It's  not too loud to talk
• Green and well landscaped
• There are places to stop, rest and socialise
• Vehicles are accommodated safely and used efficiently
• The air is clean

The following page describes what this means for different street types. The design of cycle infrastructure also needs to take acount of the street type and follow best practice. The suggested approach to the provision of cycle infrastructure is also shown.

Specific programmes are proposed to support the delivery of Liveable Streets. These are listed below and described in the following sections. It is however important that ALL interventions in streets including maintenance are aligned with and contribute to the delivery of Liveable Streets.

• Speed limit strategy
• Local cycle improvements
• Public realm improvements
• Community led projects such as Play Streets and Parklets
• Seating and cycle parking programmes
• Main streets

Liveable Streets - street types and cycling

The table below describes the link and place characteristics for the different street types that have been identified in Cheltenham.

Link and place characteristics for different street types

Street type	Link	Place
Inter- urban	40mph - 60mph. Provides highway connection to another place. May have limited provision for walking and cycling. Carriageway widths accommodate large vehicles.	Limited place function and limited demand for short trips
Urban edge	40mph - 30mph. Provides approach to town where speeds start to be reduced Carriageway widths accommodate large vehicles. Segregated facilities for walking and cycling. Signal crossings for pedestrians and cyclists provided at or close to desire lines.	Limited place function but walking and cycling needs to be attractive, pleasant and easy, with safe direct links and regular crossing facilities. Streetscape attractive. Regular seating. Free from perceived and actual physical and verbal threats.
Busy main streets	30mph except in local centres where 20mph considered. Local and through traffic. Need to accommodate walking and cycling across and along them with regular places to cross. Side road junctions should have sharp corners that discourage vehicles turning at high speed. Walking and cycling provision should be segregated where at all possible, in particular where the speed limit exceeds 20mph, with at least 3m width for shared provision. Signal crossings for pedestrians and cyclists provided at regular intervals.	Street should be attractive, for example tree-lined Walking and cycling along these streets should be enjoyable and safe for all ages and abilities Regular seating should be provided including in all local centres. Free from perceived and actual physical and verbal threats.
Town centre main streets	20mph, with segregated provision for walking and cycling. Design should be fully permeable for pedestrians and cyclists - i.e. it should feel safe to cross anywhere even though there will be formal crossing facilities. Signalised or zebra crossings. The use of highway centre lines and other highways paraphernalia is limited - de-cluttered An RPZ could be used to control parking whilst minimising clutter.	Important gateway to the town centre where streetscape needs to be high quality Need to be a safe and attractive for walking and cycling for all ages and abilities Regular seating where people might want to stop or where staying needs to be encouraged. Clear wayfinding Free from perceived and actual physical and verbal threats.
Town centre public realm	Totally de-cluttered. Where vehicle access is permitted vehicles speeds should be 10mph - 20mph depending on use of space Very limited parking / stopping for vehicles provided, some taxi provision Servicing limited to times where pedestrian footfall is low Carriageway width 6-6.5m where access for servicing and/or buses only.	Public spaces of town-wide importance which at least in part are destinations in their own right Seating designed to encourage people to ' stay' Spaces that allow a variety of events and activities Free from perceived and actual physical and verbal threats.
Neighbourhood streets	Provides access to a neighbourhood and its facilities. 20mph with approx 5.5m carriageway width. Side road junctions should have tight radii that discourage vehicles turning at high speed and service vehicles can generally utilise the whole road width at junctions. The use of highway centre lines and other highways paraphernalia is limited - de-cluttered.	Street should be attractive, for example tree-lined Walking and cycling along these streets should be enjoyable and safe for all ages and abilities Regular seating Free from perceived and actual physical and verbal threats.
Quiet residential streets	Segregated footways with cyclists generally accommodated on-street but on-street parking design needs to take account of cyclist safety Entry points onto this network from Main Streets should be designed to manage speeds, e.g. using tight entry radii and side road cross-overs to give priority to pedestrians The use of highway centre lines and other highway paraphernalia is limited - de-cluttered 20mph, with typical maximum 4.1m-5.5m carriageway width	Street should be attractive, for example tree-lined Walking and cycling along these streets should be enjoyable and safe for all ages and abilities Free from perceived and actual physical and verbal threats. Could include a ‘home zone’ approach to design.
Green space	3-4m shared surface route with good drainage to avoid ponding Clear wayfinding	Predominantly natural spaces Opportunities to sit, reflect and enjoy nature, or take part in community initiatives such as gardening and food growing Free from perceived and actual physical and verbal threats.

The diagram illustrates the street types in relation to a link and place hierarchy. These characteristics can be used to support the development of briefs for any work within streets in Cheltenham. Community led projects are likely to be most appropriate on the streets with lower link functions.

Listed below is our suggested approach to providing cycle infrastructure on different types of street. Good practice guidance can also be found in Transport for London’s ‘London Cycling Standards'.

Full separation on links (such as cycle track and segregated lanes)

• Inter-urban
• Urban edge
• Busy main street

Dedicated on-carriageway lanes (such as mandatory and light segregated lanes)

• Neighbourhood streets
• Busy main street
• Town centre main streets

Shared on-carriageway lanes (such as advisory lanes and bus/cycle lanes)

• Neighbourhood streets
• Quiet residential streets
• Town centre main streets
• Town centre public realm

Integration with other vehicles

• Quiet residential streets
• Town centre public realm

Liveable Streets - speed limit strategy

The proposed speed limit strategy is at the heart of the proposed Liveable Streets approach in Cheltenham.

This builds on the street types identified in the previous section.

The speed limit strategy seeks to ensure that:

• Speeds are higher on streets which carry ‘strategic traffic’ and vehicles which are travelling longer distances
• Speeds are lower on streets which provide local and neighbourhood access (most streets).

We expect the delivery of the speed limit strategy to be below £5 million.

If this strategy is delivered in a limited number of stages and as a signed only scheme, we would expect costs to be significantly below £5 million. Cambridge are delivering a similar project in three stages for an advertised budget of £600k.

Liveable Streets - local cycle improvements

Liveable Streets - seating, cycle parking and dropped kerbs programme

Regular seating and cycle parking are both critical to encouraging and supporting people to use sustainable modes of transport.

Dropped kerbs are also critical to enabling people moving slowly, in wheelchairs and with prams to move around.

An ongoing programme of providing seating in key destinations and along key walking routes, dropped kerbs and cycle parking at key destinations such as centres and schools should be established. < £200k

Liveable Streets - main streets

The busiest streets can form barriers to people walking and cycling. A programme of providing improved crossing facilities, including side road crossovers, gateways is proposed and dropped kerbs. This is anticipated to be predominantly focussed on those roads which will have speed limits of 30mph or more and are within the Urban Area. <£5 million for side road crossovers and crossings.

These busy streets are also where the most delay to buses occurs. Working to provide bus priority where possible and reducing congestion will help improve journey time reliability and the attractiveness of public transport.