Controversial Broom Road and Wellgate cycle lane scheme in Rotherham may cost up to £3.6m

The proposals will see the bus lane on Broom Road end before Clifton Roundabout, merging two lanes into one with a cycle track.

The bus lane will be kept, which goods vehicles will be allowed to use.

Dedicated cycle tracks will be created on Wellgate and Broom Road, between Hollowgate and Boswell Street, as part of the first phase of the scheme.

A report to the SYMCA states that the plans will “encourage a mode shift away from private car use and to enable cycling in an area identified as a priority.”

It adds that around 16,000 people travel in or out of Rotherham TownCentre via Wellgate and that “the Broom Road corridor is identified as being the corridor into central Rotherham with greatest potential for cycling uptake”.

However, the report also acknowledges that the plans will “disbenefit” car users at Clifton Roundabout causing increased congestion “due to reducedcarriageway available for general traffic”.

Traffic modelling concluded that the scheme would add a mean delay of 17.3 seconds to a driver’s overall journey time, and that “increased vehicle operating costswill be imposed on the road users, as well as environmental costs on adjacent residents”.

“It is also noted that the forecast uplift in cycling will have a negligible, although positive impact on network performance,” it adds.

“The impacts are expected….and policy decision to enhance opportunities for cycling, and that the bus priority improvements…. [are] expected to bring about a modal shift from car to bus.”