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Nottingham City Council has launched a new online mapping tool, asking people to submit their ideas and suggestions to make Nottingham’s streets even better for those walking and cycling as Covid-19 lockdown measures are eased.

The online Keep Nottingham Moving Safely tool forms part of the Emergency Active Travel measures being introduced by the council following a successful bid for funding from the Department for Transport (DfT) and feedback received could be considered as part of any future bids and plans.

Nottingham City Council has recently been awarded nearly £570,000, following a successful first-round bid for funding from the Government’s Emergency Active Travel Fund. The fund, which was announced by the Secretary of State on 23 May as part of the work to combat the Covid-19 pandemic, is allocated in two stages and could be worth up to £2.5 million in total to the city if successful.

The first allocation of funding aims to introduce and test out measures to encourage walking and cycling and help people move around the city to aid social distancing as lockdown measures are eased. The schemes could be either be amended, removed or permanently retained during the next few months as we test out the ideas to see how well they work.

The online tool is part of the bid’s support package and could help shape the proposals for the second round funding, worth up to £2m, and help create longer-term projects.

Nottingham City Council has always been committed to the promotion of walking and cycling, with some great facilities already in place and even more in the pipeline.

The council’s strong and successful track record on bidding for funds to invest in new facilities means plans are in place to add or improve a further 87 miles of the cycle network over the next 15 years, with £40 million of funding secured through the Government’s Transforming Cities Fund.

This follows investment already made through the D2N2 Local Enterprise Partnership to build new shared paths, so cyclists and pedestrians can move around quicker, safer and more easily. A further 16.7m has also recently been awarded to improve connectivity in Nottingham and Derby from the Future Transport Zone.

Councillor Adele Williams, Portfolio Holder for Transport at Nottingham City Council, said: “This is a great opportunity for people to submit their ideas and be part of our future plans to help improve local travel facilities.

“Many people are currently walking and using their bikes more, which not only helps reduce the pressure on our road network, but is great for the environment and our health and wellbeing too.

“As lockdown restrictions are eased, many of us will need to get around the city more and we

would like ideas which will help encourage more people to travel by foot or bike in the future, as well as continuing to improve the existing facilities for those who already do so.

“Cycling and walking forms a key part of the council’s transport strategy and has a major role to play in the wider agendas of improving air quality, health and reducing carbon emissions”.