New cycleway to boost safety in south Middlesbrough
Last updated 16th Jun 2021
Middlesbrough Mayor Andy Preston has conceded a new footpath to link up a growing part of the town won’t be popular with everyone.
Leaders have agreed to back work on a new lit footpath-cycleway to link up Hemlington Grange, south of Stainton Way, as officials say the new estate is “poorly connected” to wider networks.
But the planned 170 metre path between Stokesley Road and north of The Birches, in Coulby Newham, has divided views among residents.
Efforts to create the link aim to make journeys between Hemlington Grange and facilities in Coulby safer – particularly for youngsters making journeys to The King’s Academy and Rose Wood Academy.
It comes as new traffic lights and a crossing are installed on Stainton Way west of the Stokesley Road roundabout.
However, a consultation on the push for a path late last year showed 35 of 36 responses from residents of The Birches and Woodlea, The Army Reserve centre, and ward councillors were against the bid.
Worries the path could be an escape route for criminals and the potential for more anti-social behaviour were chief among concerns.
Light pollution and litter were among other doubts.
Mr Preston told Tuesday’s executive meeting he’d spoken to frustrated residents in the area last year – and a lot of people already used the stretch of land as a pathway anyway.
He said: “What we really need to do is keep kids safe.
“We’ve had an accident very near there in the recent past – we need to create better crossing places and get people off the roads as much as we can.
“We also need to create the right access to all areas.
“I’m aware this won’t be hugely popular with every single resident around there but there is lots we can do.”
Another consultation held earlier this year covering a wider area showed more people were in favour of the new path – with 43 for and 40 against.
Rising house building in south Middlesbrough has seen more pedestrians crossing Stokesley Road.
Injuries suffered by an 11-year-old girl hit by a car in December pushed the council to speed up its action to create a new crossing on the busy route.
Alternative routes for the path north of the Army Reserve Centre had been touted.
But Mr Preston believed the current plan was the “best possible solution”.
And he said efforts to make the path less intrusive, tree planting, and other measures could help ease residents’ concerns.
He added: “I understand that almost all those who were against it lived very close to where the path is proposed – I understand that.
“The job now is to reassure them and to build it in a way they are comfortable with.
“But it does make it safer for kids going to school.”
Work on the new path will be completed before April next year.