Coronavirus: Cyclists praise councils for 'prioritising' pedestrians by shutting streets to cars during lockdown

Cyclists have praised the idea reportedly being pursued by a number of councils which would see cars banned from built-up areas to encourage more people to exercise during the coronavirus lockdown.

Local authorities in London, Brighton and Manchester are said to be weighing up whether to ban vehicles from smaller roads to create more space for pedestrians, according to The Times. The proposals would see some small streets being turned into temporary cycle lanes.

Social media users voiced their support for the scheme on Tuesday, with many praising the councils for “protecting and prioritising” pedestrians.

Former Olympic and Tour de France cyclist Chris Boardman tweeted: “If you want people to stay apart and not use public transport, we have no choice but to protect, prioritise and enable those not driving.”

While several local Liberal Democrat groups also signalled their approval for the planned pedestrianisation.

“This is a great idea,” Eltham Liberal Democrats said, “A number of local authorities are considering plans to close off streets to vehicles in order to create extra space for cyclists and joggers during locdown. Could ⁦Greenwich Council look into this too?”

Greenwich Borough Lib Dems also tweeted: “This should also help with the cars who are currently speeding on these quieter than usual streets.”

Stephen Edwards, director of policy and communications at Living Streets, a charity that promotes walking, told The Times: “This pandemic is making us all realise how much public space is given over to individual car use rather than walking and cycling.

“Many of our footways are too narrow. This has long been a problem for people with wheelchairs, buggies and other mobility aids but now it’s affecting everyone’s ability to practise social distancing.

“Cities worldwide are starting to reallocate road space to allow people to move more freely.”

Latest coronavirus news, updates and advice

Live: Follow all the latest updates from the UK and around the world

Fact-checker: The number of COVID-19 cases in your local area

6 charts and maps that explain how coronavirus is spreading

Over the weekend, Manchester became the first city in the UK to close a street to vehicles during the lockdown. Cones were laid down the middle of Tib Street in central Manchester to create two temporary cycle or running lanes.

Brighton on the south coast and Hackney council in London is also said to be drawing up a shortlist of streets in the borough that will be turned into car-free zones to give residents places to exercise.

The London authority is planning to use plants and bollards on particular streets to create cycling lanes while maintaining access for emergency vehicles.

There has been a sharp drop in the number of vehicles on the road because of the lockdown conditions imposed to control the spread of coronavirus.

Overall, traffic has declined by as much as three quarters compared with normal levels.

The call comes after Dominic Raab, who is deputising for Boris Johnson, said the government does not expect to relax or lift the coronavirus lockdown later this week.

The foreign secretary said on Monday that there are some "positive signs" from the data that show "we are starting to win this struggle".

"We don't expect to make any changes to the measures currently in place at that point and we won't until we're confident, as confident as we realistically can be, that any such changes can be safely made," he said.

Coronavirus: what happened today?

Click here to sign up to the latest news, advice and information with our daily Catch-up newsletter