A controversial active travel scheme implemented in Alsager last summer has been scrapped by Cheshire East following a review.

Cheshire East received £155,000 from the Department of Transport's Emergency Active Travel Fund, which led to eight emergency active travel projects being installed across eight Cheshire East towns in August.

This programme included measures at Lodge Road/Sandbach Road North in Alsager.

The council is currently evaluating each of the eight temporary measures in turn, to decide whether they should be made permanent, modified or removed.

Cheshire East felt the review process was "timely" as the UK continued to come out of the latest lockdown.

Based upon consideration of the level of use by pedestrians and cyclists, its impact on other road users, the level of support expressed in consultation responses, a decision has been made to withdraw the Lodge Road scheme.

Speaking about the withdrawal of the temporary measures in Alsager, a Cheshire East Council spokesperson told Nub News: "This is expected before the end of the school Easter holidays and bus companies providing school transport will be advised of this decision.

"The council will continue to engage with ward councillors and other stakeholders to identify access improvements for inclusion in the local transport delivery plan for Alsager.

"The council believes that the lessons learnt from this programme have been invaluable to inform future projects across the borough."

The eight temporary traffic management schemes were implemented in response to the Covid-19 pandemic, the first lockdown and the effects these had on travel behaviour.

Cheshire East stated that central government funding came with "strict time restrictions", which meant that the council had to act "quickly".

As a result, the temporary measures reportedly drew upon plans that had already been outlined in previous 'active travel' planning.

Delivery timescales meant that consultation continued after the schemes were installed.

The temporary measures have remained in place until now, with only minor changes and maintenance.

Throughout the period, residents submitted their views on the measures using Cheshire East's consultation web portal.

In response to the Lodge Road scheme, there were 561 comments from Alsager residents.

In addition, site inspections, monitoring and correspondence have provided feedback on these measures.

The withdrawal of the Lodge Road scheme comes after Cheshire East decided to halt a proposed second active travel scheme in Congleton following 'very clear' feedback that the town was not 'on board'.