PARKING spaces could be removed from Newton Abbot’s Queen Street and Courtenay Street as part of measures to make walking and cycling safer.

A series of ‘quick wins’ to improve walking and cycling around key routes in Devon should be in place by June 1.

The news was revealed by Cllr Andrew Leadbetter at an Emergency Transport and Travel Roundtable, hosted by Exeter City Futures on Wednesday afternoon.

The event saw a diverse mix of participants – representing local authorities, businesses and their communities, as well as individuals – discuss and debate solutions for a ‘green restart’ for Exeter post coronavirus.

Last week, it was announced that Devon County Council is actively pursuing a number of possible changes to the local road network to help improve walking and cycling routes, and Cllr Leadbetter, the cabinet liaison for Exeter, told the 100 invited guests the measures would be in place by June 1.

The proposed measures include:

Parking spaces removed in order to widen footpaths and introduce cycleways in:

– Fore Street, South Street and North Street in Exeter;

– Butchers Row, The Strand, Cross Street and Boutport Street in Barnstaple;

– Queen Street and Courtenay Street in Newton Abbot;

– High Street and Bridgeland Street in Bideford.

– Highway improvements on the B3213 Western Road in Ivybridge.

Temporary signals are also being considered to improve crossings on major routes including Rydon Lane at Countess Wear, Church Road in Alphington, A39 Pilton Causeway, A381 Totnes, as well as Ashburton Road, Exeter Road and Jetty Marsh Road in Newton Abbot.

Additional electric Co-Bikes could also be provided in Exeter and extra cycle rack facilities could be installed in town centres.

It follows the Government’s announcement of a £250 million emergency active travel fund – as the first stage of a £2 billion national investment in walking and cycling – although Devon County Council is still awaiting details as to how much of the funding they will received.

Cllr Leadbetter added: ‘This work does cost money and is partly reliant on us getting the money from government. But we want to do this and we are going with temporary traffic orders so we can put these things in.’

He confirmed that the June 1 target date was for the actual work on the ground to have been implemented.