

Bikes and Active Travel is a Sedgefield Development Trust project. With our Facebook “Sedgefield Bicycle and Active Travel Project” group membership now over 200 members, the project continues to grow! This is an update of what is happening in Active Travel at the moment and a chance to mention what will be coming up in the coming months.
We have been working very hard with Durham County Council and Sedgefield
Town Council to find out what the people of the Sedgefield area want from
Active Travel in the area. If we know what to focus on, we can provide the
facilities and infrastructure that will make it easy for you to get around without
the car.
Of course, when we find ways for people to get around whilst leaving
the car at home we will free up road space for people who really need to drive
into the village. Some of the things we have asked about on the Facebook
page include:
Pavement Parking
What can be done to help pedestrians and especially pushchair and
wheelchair users to get along the pavements and past parked cars without
having to go into the road? Are there areas where alternative or improved
parking are needed to help people park off the pavement, or do we need
alternative enforcement to make pavements safe?
20mph Limits
As lots of people have commented on the speed of many vehicles through the
village, and as several of the new estates have or have considered 20mph
limits, many people feel that a wider 20mph limit around the village might
improve safety in the centre, and may also encourage people to avoid taking a
short cut rather than using the bypass.
Improved pedestrian crossings
Where do you want to cross the road? If we had extra crossings, where would
be most convenient to help you get to the shops or to get the children to
school?
Increasing Parking
Could the diagonal road near the bus shelter be closed off to provide more
parking spaces for visitors to the town?
We are lucky that since Lockdown and with the formation of the government’s new Active Travel England agency
headed by Chris Boardman, we find
ourselves at a point in time where
there is an acknowledgement that
people want to travel by bike and on
foot for local journeys. In the past,
our area has often felt like a poor
relation when improvements are
being allocated; we now believe that
we have an excellent opportunity to
push for investment in our area and
make getting around healthier,
cheaper and stress-free!
The questions to the left and many
others will be the subject of a public
consultation in the next few months.
It is vitally important that we get as
many people in the area to give their
opinions of which improvements we
want and why we need them.
Changes will only happen with public
support and we need to know what
all travellers in the area want.
Without engagement we are stuck
with the status quo, so this is your
big chance to get the changes you
want.
Please watch out for details of the
consultation in the various town
social media streams and as a paper
-based version available at various
locations around the town.
Your voice is important and we look
forward to hearing from you!