Council chiefs have agreed a plan for spending £5.5 million on improving roads and transport in Stoke-on-Trent over the next year.

Stoke-on-Trent City Council's local transport and active travel plan includes 26 individual projects involving highways, footpaths and bridges which are due to be started or continued in 2024/25.

The list includes traffic calming measures at six schools across the city to improve safety for pupils at drop-off and pick-up times. There are also plans to repair bridges, install new pedestrian crossings and tackle 'rat running'.

Another 15 projects are listed in the 'transport forward programme' which do not yet have a confirmed start date. Government funding for the 2024/25 plan is made up of £2.118 million from the Active Travel Fund and Integrated Transport Block, another £2.029 million from the Maintenance Block and £1.321 million from the Potholes Fund.

Traffic calming measures are planned at six schools across the city to improve safety for pupils (LDRS).

Council-funded schemes in 2024/25 include £3.8 million on road resurfacing and £3.418 million on improvements to the Waterloo Road/Cobridge Road junction.

A council report states: "The transport network is essential to almost every aspect of our daily lives. Very little happens without us needing to walk, cycle, use public transport or a private vehicle.

"Schemes proposed are designed to aid walking, cycling, expedite the flow of traffic and to reduce harm to highway safety in some instances."

Individual projects are included in the plan based on a number of criteria, such as technical surveys, input from ward councillors and residents, and the council's legal requirements as a highways authority. Cabinet members voted to rubberstamp the local transport plan at their meeting last week.

There are plans to repair bridges, install new pedestrian crossings and tackle 'rat running' (Swansway Group).

Cabinet support member Finlay Gordon-McCusker welcomed the plan. He said: "There are a number of really good schemes here to make the network more efficient and safer. Things like repairing bridges and making sure they're maintained properly.

"This includes the bridge that connects Dividy Road to Eaton Park, without which people wouldn't be able to get in or out of Eaton Park. So it's really important that all this work goes ahead."

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