Guildford active travel plans to be reconsidered

The plans were proposed for London Road in Guildford, which is a major route to and from the A3

A decision to reject plans aiming to encourage cycling and walking in Guildford is to be reconsidered by councillors.

The £6m active travel scheme would have created segregated footpaths and cycleways, but was rejected over concerns cyclists would endanger pedestrian safety.

The Guildford Bike User Group (G-Bug) said the proposals would be "significantly safer for both pedestrians and cyclists than the current roads and paths".

Surrey County Council leader Tim Oliver said the "strength of feeling from the local community" had been taken into account.

On Tuesday, the council’s communities, environment and highways select committee scrutinised a decision by the council’s cabinet to refuse the plans for London Road, a major route into Guildford from the A3, against officers' recommendation.

The committee subsequently voted in favour of asking the cabinet to reconsider the decision.

The proposed scheme raised concerns over cyclists and pedestrians sharing narrow routes

G-Bug said it had previously written to the council to raise concerns that the cabinet's decision did not follow proper legal process.

"The council decision appears to ignore a number of important considerations, including the overwhelming evidence that the new scheme is significantly safer for both pedestrians and cyclists than the current roads and paths," a spokesperson said.

"The decision also takes account of matters that aren't relevant, such as floating bus stops, which were removed from the scheme in 2023."

Nikki Roberts, chief executive of Surrey Coalition of Disabled People, said the group was "strongly opposing" plans for shared spaces at bus stops and on the pavement.

"Blind, visually impaired, disabled, older and vulnerable bus passengers should be able to get on and off the bus independently directly from/to the pavement as they have always done," she told BBC Radio Surrey.

Mr Oliver said the council had considered the safety concerns raised by the group.

He said: "Alongside both the strength of feeling from the local community and the findings of an independent technical review about the London Road scheme, cabinet members decided not to proceed with this part of the proposal at their meeting on 29 October.”

He added that the majority of votes cast at the meeting on Tuesday were in favour of referring the decision back to cabinet for reconsideration.

A meeting is to take place on 26 November.