In the last quarter of 2022, The Active Way reached a critical stage in the project’s development, carrying out an interactive map-based consultation which flagged real concern amongst local people for their personal safety when navigating St Andrews on foot or via bicycle.
The consultation built upon learning from a survey we carried out earlier in the year that had asked about travel habits and barriers to travel. This consultation asked for direct input from local people about specific routes that work well as well as for details of specific problems and areas of concern in St Andrews.
Over 300 people responded to the survey, including student Sandy Bond, pictured. Results showed strong support for the project in its aims to improve active travel routes locally and suggested the most urgent improvements will include actions that increase feelings of safety and security of local people.
The consultation identified a real problem with personal safety on several routes throughout the town. Responses said certain routes were ‘far too dangerous to navigate at night’ and identified routes that ‘desperately need safety measures for cyclists and pedestrians.’ More than 200 near miss incidents were reported by respondents, and 18 accidents, only 9 of which were reported to the police.
Some of the biggest challenges to personal safety include fast traffic and poor visibility hindering safe crossing, as well as poor streetlights and hidden or secluded parts of paths causing people to feel unsafe using certain routes for walking or wheeling.
These concerns were taken into consideration and helped the team devise a proposal for route intervention options which will be presented to the public on Saturday 4th February from 1pm – 4pm at St Mark’s Church as part of St Andrew’s Eco Fair.
