information line: 0845 303 0343
email: penistoneroad@smartroutes.co.uk

The following are representative of the questions received during the public consultation in October to December 2008.

Where you have raised an issue which is more specific to your circumstances, we will contact you directly in relation to your inquiry. If you have any further questions at this stage, please contact us at penistoneroad@smartroutes.co.uk

1. I work at Hillsborough Barracks and turn right onto Penistone Road. If you remove the right turn out and make people go left, won’t this cause further congestion at Owlerton Green and Hillsborough Corner?

Removing the right turn out will improve the flow of traffic on Penistone Road, as well as access to the Barracks for left-turners (in & out) and right-turners in. People who turn right out of Penistone Road could make the turn to return city-bound using Livesey Street or the Bradfield Road roundabout. The feasibility of this is being checked, along with some possible improvements that would assist.

2. Why not use the extra lane for all vehicles?

Extra lanes for general traffic have to be as long and continuous as possible, otherwise traffic merging back from three to two lanes actually causes more congestion and delays. It is not possible to provide an additional third lane for traffic all the way along Penistone Road, as this would involve knocking down a lot of buildings.

Widening the road along stretches of Penistone Road for bus lanes is possible and can work efficiently, with traffic control managing how buses merge into general traffic where the bus lanes end. We are investigating whether this could work as a high-occupancy vehicle lane.

More generally, bus lanes will help relieve congestion by removing buses, motorcyclists, bicycles and taxis from the general stream of traffic. These bus lanes will also reduce bus journey times and improve the reliability and punctuality of bus services. There is then scope for improved bus services, which could provide an incentive for some people to change from car use to public transport, thus reducing the number of vehicles on the road.

3. How does this scheme relate to any future development of Park and Ride on Penistone Road?

The proposals have been designed to be complementary to any future Park and Ride proposals. South Yorkshire Passenger Transport Executive has, more recently, made a bid to the Regional Transport Board for Yorkshire and the Humber for this and, last month (February 2009), this bid was endorsed. Feasibility work, including consultation, will progress as a separate project to the Smart Route proposals, although officers working on the two projects will be in constant communication to ensure that they continue to be complementary.

4. What consideration has been given to increasing the speed limit on long stretches of Penistone Road from 30mph?

The 30mph limit was put in as a safety measure to cater for large vehicles reversing on/off Penistone Road. However, this practice has now largely ceased. This will be taken into consideration as part of a current review of speed limits across Sheffield and South Yorkshire. That is a separate piece of work and would require a lot of changes to signage both along the road and the joining roads, but we are working up outline costs.

5. We require access to Claywheels Lane for lorries of over 60 feet long. However, when approaching southbound on A61 Penistone Road North, we do not think that the turning onto Beeley Wood Road will be wide enough for the lorries to turn into.

The additional right turn lane would be designed to be wide enough for Heavy Goods Vehicles (HGVs) to access Beeley Wood Road/Claywheels Lane.

6. Will anything be done to improve the landscape along Penistone Road? There is currently a lot of disused land.

The Penistone Road Smart Route will complement ongoing regeneration projects. City Council officers have been developing proposals to enhance the appearance of the road as a major gateway into the city and officers working on the two projects are liaising to ensure that they continue to be complementary.

7. Do you intend to do introduce any incentives for greener travel along with the proposals? For example, perhaps a couple of eco-friendly cars which people can rent by the hour?

Awareness and marketing campaigns alongside the scheme would encourage more environmentally friendly travel. This would incorporate existing schemes such as WhizzGo and South Yorkshire Car Share.

8. I don’t see the need for the additional turn out of Bamforth Street.

Providing two lanes for the right turn out of Bamforth Street will let more traffic out with less 'green time' (traffic lights). More 'green time' can then be given to Penistone Road. The proposed changes at Bamforth Street will also make it easier for pedestrians to cross.

9. Is anything being planned to resolve congestion issues around other roads feeding into Hillsborough Corner?

Bradfield Road is due to be widened in Spring 2009, to reinstate the two lanes at the roundabout with parking restrictions.

10. I travel 5 days a week from Chapeltown to Crookes by car using the A61 before turning off at Hillsborough. I would like to use the bus system, however Chapeltown to Hillsborough and Hillsborough to Crookes is served by 2 different bus companies making the price of tickets prohibitive.

The scheme is aimed at improving all journeys along the A61 corridor, rather than cross-city journeys. There are separate initiatives underway to tackle ticketing issues such as this one, including a smart card called ‘Yorcard’, currently being piloted in some parts of the city.

11. Is there any fixed plan to connect Middlewood Road to Claywheels Lane via a bridge? This would reduce congestion at Catch Bar Lane/Penistone Road.

This is something that the City Council would like to do. We are looking at some ideas but they would be expensive and we would need to secure funding for the bridge.

12. At the Leppings Lane roundabout, the traffic which would be coming down Halifax Road/Penistone Road North would need some priority when turning right, otherwise there will be a tremendous built up of traffic on the main road.

The plan is to signalize the junction with a dedicated right turn lane on the approach to this junction. A camera linked to Urban Traffic Control would allow detection of queuing and action to be taken.

13. Where would the extra room for the bus lanes come from?

The extra space would come from a mixture of taking space from the central reservation and from footways and other highway land immediately adjacent.

14. What would be done to minimise disruption during construction?

Constructors would work under the Considerate Contractor agreement and works in crucial locations would generally take place outside of peak traffic times. Works would be co-ordinated to keep disruption to an absolute minimum and this website would be kept updated as works progress.

15. Why not keep Langsett Road as the main public transport route?

Langsett Road will remain the main public transport route for most journeys. However, Penistone Road has been highlighted as a potential growth area for bus travel, particularly from large residential areas on the eastern side of the river into the city centre. This scheme would address this, as well as potentially improving public transport access to all the businesses and organisations along Penistone Road itself.

16. Leppings Lane, could you not build a fly-over or sub-way for the main flow of traffic?

Such a scheme would be a lot more expensive than the proposed scheme and is not likely to find funding from central government. Any proposed changes need to represent value for money and are assessed for this using a standard process run by the Department for Transport.

17. The current cycle route along the corridor is incomplete. Will this be addressed?

Developing and completing the Upper Don Valley cycle route is a separate project, but the Smart Route proposals are designed to be complementary with it and some of the proposals will benefit some cyclists, with the lengths of bus lane being available for cycle use.

18. Will the general traffic have to stop every time any vehicle using the bus lane comes to the end of a stretch of bus lane? If we just had to stop to let buses out this would be fine, but for bikes and taxis too?

Signals would stop general vehicles to allow traffic in the bus lanes to join the main flow of traffic. However, this would be co-ordinated, using up-to-date technology, with the operation of the whole junction, so that any additional delays would be minimal and would not detract from the overall benefit to journey times that the proposals as a whole would achieve.

19. How many additional sets of traffic lights are you proposing across the whole route?

The only additional signalized junctions would be at the Leppings Lane roundabout and Beeley Wood Road. The bus lane signals would be built into the operation of the relevant junction. One set of lights (a pedestrian crossing) would be removed from adjacent to the Barracks junction and built into the junction itself.