Little London Road: Petition calls for Sheffield road to be reopened to drivers due to 'pollution and traffic'

Little London Road was shut to motor vehicles at the railway bridge near the junction with Rydal Road in July as part of a major upgrade to the Sheaf Valley Cycle Route between Woodseats and Sheffield city centre. The trial closure has proved controversial from the start, with metal bollards being cut and barriers thrown into the river during the early days of the scheme as critics complained it was causing chaos on surrounding roads. But supporters have hailed it as a game changer in attempts to get more people cycling and walking as it makes it much safer for them to do so.

Now a petition has been launched calling on Sheffield Council to fully reopen the road because, the petition’s founder Lindsay Crawford claims, the closure is ‘causing more pollution and traffic on some of Sheffield’s busiest roads’.

“Anecdotal reports have shown an added 20-30 minutes to an individuals journey during rush hour if travelling on Abbeydale Road,” the petition states. “It is also affecting the businesses on this road due to increased time in accessing it,” it continues.“If a pollution measurement was to be taken it would show an increase from before as there is much more idle traffic. People who live on the roads attached to Little London Road (Smithy Wood Road, Dinnington Road, Athol Road) now have to go far out of their way just to get home,” it states.

The petition was launched on Sunday, October 16, and as of Tuesday afternoon it already had nearly 100 signatures.

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The Little London Road closure is part of wider plans to improve the Sheaf Valley Cycle Route, which also include removing parking bays on Shoreham Street to create a new three-metre-wide two-way cycle track there. It is one of a number of ‘Active Travel’ roadblocks in place around the city, including in Crookes and Nether Edge, which have been introduced on a six-month trial basis, using what is known as an experimental traffic regulation order.

Sheffield Green Party leader Douglas Johnson said that since Little London Road was closed to through traffic many more cyclists had been using the route. “You can see it’s much safer and it’s working because there are a lot more people who are happy to cycle there,” he said.

“You see children cycling to school along Little London Road, for example, which you rarely saw before,” he added. You do also hear people saying they’re having to drive further because they can’t take that shortcut and have to stick to the main roads. But the point is those main roads are where drivers are meant to be rather than cutting through using much narrower roads.”

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Coun Johnson said main roads in the area were very wide with capacity for extra traffic should parking be banned there, though he accepted this was a controversial view and there were no plans to do so. “It’s also really important to point out that more people making the choice to cycle into town means there are fewer cars on the road which is a benefit to the people still driving,” he said.

To view the petition, visit: https://democracy.sheffield.gov.uk/mgepetitionlistdisplay.aspx?bcr=1.