Sheffield Council permanently pedestrianises Division Street

The city centre stretch is one of the busiest sections in Sheffield.

CycleSheffield organised a traffic-free trial weekend there in 2019 which received positive feedback.

Then the council temporarily restricted the street to cars in 2020 as part of Covid-19 measures to enable social distancing.

Now this week, councillors on the transport committee voted to keep the changes indefinitely, saying there were many benefits.

In a report prepared for the meeting, officers said it will have a positive impact on active travel, heath, safety, air quality and business.

Tom Finnegan-Smith, head of strategic transport, said: “Given the benefits arising from the scheme that we have seen over the last two to three years, and noting the consultation responses, we are recommending that the Division Street experimental traffic regulation order is made permanent.”

Speaking about the scheme previously, Coun Martin Phipps, City ward representative, said: “It’s about creating a destination. Polluted, busy streets are not somewhere people want to stroll.

“People say Sheffield is not Amsterdam or Brussels but we can have really nice outside eating and drinking and independent cafe culture too.”

An enforcement camera will be set up to catch those not adhering to the ban.

The consultation response was mostly supportive of the plans to make it permanent.