Grantham Active travel scheme on hold until bypass built

The High Street would have become a one-way road under the plans

A bid to encourage cycling and walking in a Lincolnshire town which divided residents has been put on hold.

Lincolnshire County Council said the Active Travel Scheme would not be considered again until Grantham's bypass was completed in the next year.

The plan had included outline proposals to make the High Street a one-way road, with only buses and cycles able to travel southbound.

A public consultation found the town divided fairly evenly about the scheme.

The county council's executive member for highways Richard Davies said it was "fair to say it wasn't universally popular".

The consultation of 2,750 residents, businesses and organisations found only 48% in favour of the scheme and 44% against.

According to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, Mr Davies told fellow councillors he did not think there was enough support to "push forward with it at the moment".

He said the Grantham bypass was going to open in the "next year or so".

"It makes sense to put things on hold until we've moved the A52 out of Grantham, because the town centre will feel very different without that road going through the middle."

He said that "absolutely" cycling and walking were "key" to the future of the town.

"One of the barriers to walking into a market town is those road barriers in the middle, which make it quite difficult to go that final third of the way into the town centre."