APPROVED part-funding for a new park-and-ride scheme at a railway station could also see a notorious congestion bottleneck receive improvements.
Penistone’s long-awaited park-and-ride, first put forward almost five years ago, has been given £4m from the South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority (SYMCA) through the government’s City Region Sustainable Transport Settlement (CRSTS).
The Chronicle can reveal that full control of the project has been handed over to Barnsley Council, whose officers will work towards delivering both the 100-space park-and-ride, a new footbridge, electric vehicle charging points and drop-off points for buses and taxis.
It’s anticipated that the overall scheme would cost in excess of £7m.
However, following a probe by Penistone West’s Councillor Hannah Kitching, cabinet bosses have also vowed to look at improving the multi-junction Bridge End, which will have its congestion woes exacerbated as the park-and-ride scheme progresses, according to locals.
Coun James Higginbottom, cabinet spokesperson for environment and highways, said: “Bridge End is now a medium-term plan across multiple investment angles.
“Over the next 18 months we will be using the council’s capital maintenance programme to develop a network improvement scheme around its junctions.
“Members may be aware that as part of the programme we earmarked funds to deliver these much-needed improvements, but following
initial feasibility studies, the cost is much greater than the allocated funding.
“We are continuing to explore options for how the network improvements can be delivered.
“The approach aims to deliver the previous SYMCA-controlled proposals for a new footbridge and park-and-ride site at Penistone’s railway station.
“In August this year, our strategic transport service agreed for full control of this scheme to be transferred from SYMCA to Barnsley
Council.
“The bulk of the allocation from the highway investment will be used to top up the shortfall in SYMCA funding of the park-and-ride.
“We have made sure that sufficient funding remains available to design and develop the required highway network improvements.
“We are also looking to deliver improvements to active travel routes across Penistone that enhance accessibility of the train station, with some planned improvements between Penistone and Wortley coming before 2027.”
Network Rail has indicated the existing barrow crossing has been assessed as ‘high risk’, mainly due to the potential direct potential
conflict between crossing passengers and trains from both directions, and stated that they will not support growth at the station without the footbridge’s construction.
However, although transport bosses admitted the park-and-ride will attract new vehicular demand to the location, the overarching aim of encouraging a shift away from the private car and allowing commuters to access rail facilities for longer journeys or journeys to centres will be beneficial.
Coun Kitching criticised Coun Higginbottom’s response - and urged action instead of words.
“The cabinet member made it quite clear he has never actually been to Penistone,” she told the Chronicle.
“His response conflated the congestion and road safety issues at Bridge End with the park-and-ride, another long-promised and not-yet-delivered scheme.
“Given that many Penistone area residents would have to drive through Bridge End in order to access the park-and-ride site, it is crucial that both locations are significantly improved.
“We have been waiting for years now for a plan to tackle Bridge End and the congestion continues to worsen.
“So it is dismaying, but not surprising, that the response remains ‘we are working on a plan’.
“There’s no easy solution to this but it’s an ever-worsening problem and huge queues are regularly reported.
“The development at Wellhouse Lane identified an issue at this junction and secured Section 106 cash, so I believe this could be used to help alleviate traffic.”
