Town in line for ₤800,000 to tackle traffic congestion

By ALASDAIR McGREGOR (EDP 13/09/07)

A transport revolution is on the cards in Lowestoft after ₤800,000 was
earmarked to try to cut congestion across the traffic-choked town.
The windfall is set to be ploughed into projects to encourage people to ditch
their cars and walk, cycle or use public transport to get to their destinations.
New and improved cycle paths, priority for buses at key junctions and
tailor-made information about how people can get about without a car are
just some of the ideas being proposed by the joint initiative between Suffolk
County Council and the sustainable transport charity Sustrans. The partners must
now persuade Waveney District Council to invest £60,000 in the scheme, but Guy
McGregor, the county council's portfolio holder for roads and transport, said 
he was confident of securing this.   "The future for Lowestoft is to get
people to take public transport, walk and use their cycles. It's a more holistic
approach to the transport needs and the challenges of Lowestoft," said Mr
McGregor. "We've got to move away from thinking that the only way to
tackle congestion is to build new roads.  "If Lowestoft grabs this opportunity,
it will move from being a 1960s town to a 2020 town. It's a hugely exciting time
for Lowestoft."   The money would initially be used to carry out a survey of about
25,000 homes across Lowestoft to establish people's travel habits and what
improvements they would like to see.   Mr McGregor pointed out that statistics 
already show that half of all car journeys taken in Lowestoft cover no more than two
miles and added:   "The car will never be replaced, but I think you will find that 
public transport has an increasing role to Play."   Sustrans receives its funding 
from a wide range of sources, including central government, and Mr McGregor
said the county council would also be contributing to the initiative.   During the
past decade, Sustrans has overseen the completion of the first 10,000 miles of 
the National Cycle Network and has also promoted cycling and walking as a way 
of combating obesity, heart disease and cancer.   It has also pioneered a unique 
service that gives people the information they need to walk, cycle and use public
transport, and has worked closely with schools to promote traffic-free routes.
Waveney District Council leader Mark Bee said he had spoken to Mr McGregor about 
the transport package on Tuesday and while he could not commit funding to the 
scheme until proposals had been taken to the full council, he expressed his 
interest in taking part.   He added: "We are trying to be quite ambitious to 
make Lowestoft a carbon neutral town and this could be a major way of doing it."