Connecting Sheffield: City Centre FAQS (Frequently Asked Questions)

Connecting Sheffield is a long-term programme of improvements that aims to transform the transport infrastructure that people use to get around the whole city as part of their everyday lives.

Feedback from the people of Sheffield has shown that our current transport infrastructure and system needs to be better.

We know that:

• We need to create better transport infrastructure so people can get around more easily and in a way that meets their needs.
• Many people feel that travelling by car is the only realistic option and therefore we need to provide realistic alternatives for active travel and bus use if these are going to be an attractive choice.

Over the past few decades, most of our highway network has been designed for car-use. In contrast, there has not been the same level of investment in infrastructure for buses, and particularly for cycling and walking. Connecting Sheffield will change this.

Why has Connecting Sheffield been developed?

Sheffield is a great place to live and work but we need to make it better. We need to improve our travel networks and urban spaces to meets the standards that are required for the future. We need to reduce air pollution and work to address the climate impact of transport.

We also need to make our streets and neighbourhoods safer for walking, wheeling (using wheelchairs and mobility scooters) and cycling. To do this, we will make it easier and more pleasant to get about, we will create more space for people to enjoy being outside, and we will help to reduce the number of people travelling by car.

In the past, we thought of transport infrastructure as being cars, buses, trams and trains. Today, it is much broader. It includes cycling, which is now seen as a realistic, cost-effective transport option, particularly for those who live nearer to key centres; and walking is more popular. It makes sense to enable people making shorter journeys to walk or cycle and offer better bus infrastructure for those who need to travel further or where active travel is not an option. Connecting Sheffield will support this, creating better mixed transport infrastructure to help people to get about in a way that meets their needs while reducing emissions at the same time.

What is the Transforming Cities Fund (TCF)?

In 2017, as part of the Industrial Strategy, in the Autumn Budget the Government announced the creation of the £1.7 billion Transforming Cities Fund (TCF), with the aim of driving productivity and widespread prosperity through investment in public and sustainable transport in some of the largest English city regions. The Fund is focused on intra-city connectivity, making it quicker and easier for people to get around – principally focused on helping connect people to job opportunities.

South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority placed a successful bid for a portion of the fund. An allocation of £166 million was granted for schemes across the four South Yorkshire local authority areas. The first phase of Connecting Sheffield was funded through Sheffield’s share of this £166m TCF funding, which totals around £50 million.

City Centre - General Questions

What is Connecting Sheffield: City Centre?

Connecting Sheffield: City Centre is an ambitious scheme to improve the city centre environment by making it a more attractive place to live, work, and spend time. Alongside projects including Heart of the City, it will be part of the transformation and regeneration of Sheffield city centre into a vibrant, dynamic commercial heart of the City and City Region.

The city centre scheme will help to transform the opportunities to walk, cycle and travel by bus across the city centre incorporating ‘green streets; and creating new public spaces. It will:

• Reduce bus journey times across the city centre.
• Encourage increased bus patronage and reduce reliance on private cars.
• Create direct, safe and attractive walking and cycling routes through the city centre.
• Enable more people to walk, wheel or cycle, creating a safer, more vibrant and less polluted environment for city living.
• Connect to other areas across the city, such as Nether Edge, Kelham Island/Neepsend and along the Lower Don Valley to Attercliffe and Darnall and Magna/Tinsley/Meadowhall.
• Introduce new pedestrianised areas and create open, attractive places and spaces in the city centre where people want to stop, relax and spend time.
• Bring the Outdoor City into the City, by creating green streets comprising high-quality planting and greenery, integrated with sustainable urban drainage to help the city become more resilient to climate change.

What does Connecting Sheffield: City Centre aim to achieve?

Connecting Sheffield: City Centre is crucial to delivering a high-quality city centre experience.

For our city centre to thrive in an age of internet shopping, we need to make it a great place to live as well as visit. We need to make our city centre more pleasant, and attractive for residents and visitors alike. Building a bigger residential population is important to sustain a vibrant retail and leisure offer, which then benefits everyone.

We will transform the city centre, bringing the Outdoor City into the city by creating green public spaces, and making key streets more attractive. We'll echo the landscaping and paving which we've completed along West Bar and at Castlegate.

Creating a more attractive environment is crucial to attracting new employers to the city, increasing inward investment in the city centre to create new jobs and opportunities for people in Sheffield.

By creating new segregated cycle routes, we will deliver easy, safe access by bicycle right into the heart of the city centre, making cycling a viable option for people, particularly those living close to the city centre. Once in the city centre, we will make it easier for people to get around on foot and by bicycle by creating new pedestrianised routes and a better environment for walking and developing a series of connected cycling routes with ample space to travel safely, away from motorised vehicles. Traffic volumes will be reduced in the civic heart of the city to make our key spaces more safe and pleasant, however access will be maintained to key car parks.

Bus journeys will be quicker, and routes will be more direct, with better bus stops and waiting areas. Bus routes will be prioritised with the introduction of three new bus gates.

The focus on more high-quality spaces and greener streets, with additional planting, greenery and improved landscaping, creates the conditions for people to relax, enjoy themselves and spend time, whilst also making the city centre a more vibrant and attractive as a place to visit. Creating a more attractive environment is crucial to increasing inward investment in the city centre, which attracts new jobs.

If we can maximise the number of people who walk or cycle around the city and city centre, we can also play a part in addressing the impact of transport on the climate and reducing pollution.

What is the rationale for these changes? Why has Connecting Sheffield: City Centre been developed?

Sheffield City Centre is changing.

More people are living and working in the city centre, and this means that the city’s transport infrastructure and public spaces need to be developed to meet our needs.

Cities that have a strong city centre, with an attractive environment, large residential population and high numbers of businesses, are best placed to succeed and there are already a number of significant schemes underway across the city centre.

Projects like Heart of the City and the work on The Moor, around the Town Hall and Peace Gardens, at Fitzalan Square and by our two universities, are helping to strengthen the city’s offer. We're attracting independent shops, office spaces, homes for permanent residents, hotels and high-quality public spaces, as well as leisure and hospitality outlets.

The improvements being progressed as part of Connecting Sheffield: City Centre will seamlessly link with these plans and further contribute towards creating a thriving centre.

Enabling more people to walk, wheel or cycle for shorter trips, while improving access by public transport, is crucial to help us improve air quality further at the same time as growing the city centre economy to create new jobs and vibrancy.

The green streets and spaces that will be created through pedestrianising roads, creating wider pavements and adding more planting and benches will provide a better environment for people to relax, rest and spend time in the city centre. These measures will allow us to create an improved environment for increasing numbers of people to live and work in the city centre, helping to minimise the need for new housing out of town in the green belt.

The changes being progressed as part of Connecting Sheffield: City Centre provide a benchmark for the future of travel across all of Sheffield.

Won’t these plans simply drive more people to Meadowhall?

Meadowhall is an important asset for the city and the city centre needs to be different, with an alternative offer to Meadowhall. The plans for the city centre focus on making the area more attractive as a residential location, whilst providing a better environment for people to spend more time outdoors. Alongside wider plans underway across the city centre, such as at Heart of the City and the Fargate improvement works, our city centre will become more vibrant and appealing, competing with other city centres across the North, but with the added individuality and uniqueness of the Outdoor City ‘feel’.

Sheffield is becoming home to renowned bars and restaurants, as well as boasting a strong independent retail offer. And more businesses are choosing to call the Heart of the City their home. Alongside some great leisure opportunities, Sheffield city centre has something different to offer. A city centre for everyone.

What does this mean for air quality?

Encouraging more people to walk, cycle or use public transport to travel into and around the city centre will ultimately help improve localised air quality, especially if these trips have previously been made by private car. The Connecting Sheffield programme and City Centre scheme have also been developed closely alongside wider plans to improve air quality across the city and contribute to Sheffield’s move towards becoming net zero carbon.

How have you decided where schemes will be focused?

The projects set to be delivered in this first phase of Connecting Sheffield have been identified by Sheffield City Council working with South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority, based on funding criteria set by central government for the Transforming Cities Fund, which prioritises connecting people to key employment areas using more sustainable forms of travel. The projects being proposed have also been shaped by the city’s Transport Strategy.

From this work identified some key corridors and areas for action. We know that journeys made from the North, East and South West of the city are often challenging. Most journeys to work involve getting to, or across, the city centre, or to the Lower Don Valley area and nearby business parks.

TCF is targeted at increasing productivity across the UK by improving connections between urban centres of employment and suburbs. Specifically, the fund is focused on improving travel connectivity in cities with a significant focus on increasing the number of journeys made by low carbon, sustainable transport modes such as cycling, walking and by public transport.

Our transport proposals are designed to improve Sheffield’s environment, help the economy and reduce inequality by opening up access to jobs and services.

We’ve looked at where the current infrastructure is struggling to enable such journeys but where change is possible with the funding available. We have therefore identified priority areas based on this evidence – routes into and across Sheffield city centre.

Aren’t there better things to be spending this money on in the current climate?

The funding from the Transforming Cities Fund (TCF) is from central government and sits outside the council’s day-to-day budget for services. TCF funding is only available for the delivery of improvements in public transport, walking and cycling to connect people to job opportunities. Despite other important issues, improving our infrastructure for public transport, walking, wheeling and cycling is extremely important. It can help to address climate change, improve air quality and open up more ways for people to travel around the city, which is crucial to wellbeing, equality and access to job opportunities.

This first phase of Connecting Sheffield, funded by TCF, is also a big part of regenerating our city centre, which is important in enabling Sheffield to attract more investment and new employers that bring new jobs.

Cycling and Walking Questions

What is being planned around cycling and walking?

The cycle routes across the city centre will better connect the area to inner city neighbourhoods and the employment opportunities along the Lower Don Valley via high-quality, and where possible segregated cycling infrastructure. The routes will also make it quick and easy to travel and navigate into and around the city centre, helping to reduce car journeys and congestion and contributing to improved air quality.

Extra space in the city centre allows for the creation of a better, safer environment for pedestrians and cyclists – encouraging more people to access the centre in this way. The aim is to create cycling routes that are suitable for families to use safely.

The city centre cycling routes will connect to new cycle routes towards Nether Edge, Kelham Island / Neepsend and beyond, freeing up capacity on the wider road network. This will benefit people who live further out and therefore need to travel by public transport or car.

Will there be new cycle storage in the City Centre as well? Will it be safe and secure?

Safe and secure cycle storage in convenient locations will make it easy for people to cycle for their regular commute. Through a separate project, Heart of the City, we will establish a Bike Hub within the core of the city centre. This will be a secure cycle storage provision, with an integrated workshop space for repairs and changing facilities. There is already an existing bike storage hub at Sheffield Midland Station and Meadowhall Interchange. The next step would be to roll this out to other locations once the new Hub is operational.

What about cycle storage away from Bike Hubs?

Cycling stands are already available in various locations across the city centre and there will be additional cycle stands in various locations across the city centre including Pinstone Street close to the Peace Gardens and Surrey Street. In these locations, you must provide your own locks and storage is at your own risk, as with cars parked in parking bays across the city.

Will routes across the City Centre be signposted?

Yes. Clear signage will be used to make routes easy to follow.

Isn’t this a lot of money to spend on cycling?

We already have good evidence from engagement on our Transport Strategy that lots of people want to cycle but they don’t feel that our roads currently provide the facilities and infrastructure to make this an attractive choice. Our aim is to make cycling safer and to provide improved routes that are clearer for people to follow because that’s what they have told us is stopping them travelling by bike.

Especially for shorter trips, cycling is an efficient and quick way to get around, and there’s strong evidence to show that large numbers of people take this option in places where the right facilities are provided.

The more people who cycle, the less traffic congestion we have, which can help reduce trips across the city and the impact on communities living on main routes. Being more active while travelling also significantly improves our health and wellbeing.

Won’t Sheffield always be “no go” for cycling because of the hills?

We recognise that Sheffield’s hills are an obstacle to cycling. However, there are still several possible areas where cycling doesn’t have to involve tackling big hills. In our Transport Strategy, and through other work we’ve done, we have identified some of the less hilly parts of Sheffield such as from Attercliffe, Darnall and Nether Edge into the city centre which would make for good and quite flat routes. Part of the rationale for TCF is to enable significant increases in cycling in these areas.

How about electric bikes, aren’t they the answer to Sheffield’s hills?

Electric bikes are still relatively expensive compared to conventional bikes. However, they are reducing in price and the battery technology is improving. As a result, the number of people using e-bikes is increasing.

We are committed to trialling electric bikes by making them available on loan for people to try out and see how they make the hills less of a perceived barrier. We are also making e-cargo bikes available for city businesses to trial. The investment in high-quality, safe cycling infrastructure will ensure suitable infrastructure is in place, whether you’re using a regular bike or an e-bike.

How will you make cycling safer?

We have looked at best practice elsewhere and our Transport Strategy concluded that the example to follow was that in the Netherlands. In the Netherlands they use separate cycle tracks, protected by kerbing, designed to keep cyclists away from motorised traffic where it is busy or where larger vehicles like buses regularly use these routes. Other streets are designed to ensure vehicle speeds and the number of vehicles are reduced to a safer level. This approach makes cycling less daunting and more attractive.

Public Transport Questions

What is being planned around buses and trams?

Cross city centre bus corridors have simplified routes through the city centre, allowing buses to travel more quickly and avoid congestion hot spots helping to improve bus service reliability. We have now relocated some bus stops so that passengers will end and start their journey at stops located closer together in the city centre, making routes easier to follow. At Rockingham Street a new ‘hub’ of highquality bus stops will be formed close to Pounds Park including a new bus gate south of Devonshire Lane which will prioritise buses accessing the ‘hub’. We have already started these works, and they’re due to finish in the summer 2024.

The new bus routing enables people to directly access key points in the changing city centre, like Rockingham Street, Moorhead, and Moorfoot.

The bus gates on Furnival Gate and Arundel Gate also give increased priority to buses ensuring fast and reliable journeys. On Arundel Gate, we’ll create a high-quality bus corridor, with planting and greenery between Charles Street and the Novotel, which will give passengers better access to key shopping and leisure areas.

Existing bus routes will remain, but buses will travel down Rockingham Street from West Street rather than using Carver Street and Division Street. This will make access to the Rockingham Street ‘hub’ simpler and more efficient. Our plans are designed to ensure that bus services will still allow people to access the core of the city centre, with stops located within just a few minutes’ walk from the main active areas.

Will there be bus stops on Furnival Gate?

Yes, we’ve already installed two new shelters with real-time information on Furnival Gate near H&M opposite Union Street.

We’ve already installed a bus gate which only allows buses, taxis and bikes to travel along Furnival Gate between Pinstone Street and Furnival Gate Roundabout. We also plan to install a bus gate on Furnival Gate, coming out of the city, near its junction with Matilda Way as part of the Connecting Sheffield: City Centre project. By reducing traffic in these areas, we can contribute to improving access for public transport, and make it easier for people to walk and wheel between Pinstone Street and The Moor.

Will buses still dominate on Arundel Gate?

Arundel Gate is a key bus corridor and provides an important route for bus access to the city centre. It will offer new modern bus shelters with real time passenger information.

With fewer cars and vans travelling towards High Street and Park Square beyond the Novotel Hotel, journey times and reliability will improve, and we’ll ensure there’s enough capacity for buses. This, alongside new planting and greenery between Charles Street and the Novotel, will mean the environment of Arundel Gate is greatly improved. Since we installed the bus gate at the Novotel, we have already seen some improvements to bus journey times and reliability.

Will the bus station play a role in the City Centre public transport network?

The bus station is not affected by the current phase of Connecting Sheffield. The Arundel Gate Interchange plays an even more important role as we’ve increased services in this location to give better access to the city centre.

The walk from Rockingham Street and Arundel Gate to the shops on and around Fargate is much further and steeper than from Pinstone Street where I previously got off my bus. Will there be any closer bus stops?

We have positioned bus stops as close as we can to the city centre, but there may be a slightly longer walk in some instances. However, depending on the end destination, some bus stops are also likely to be closer.

We have relocated some bus stops so that passengers will end and start their journey at stops located closer together in the city centre. So, while one journey may be longer, the other is likely to be shorter.

Bus stops on the bottom of Rockingham Street and on Furnival Gate will drop people close to, or at the heart of, the major shopping areas.

The relocated bus stops on Arundel Gate near The Crucible will have new, high-quality bus shelters installed in late spring 2024.

In summer 2022, we launched the Sheffield Connect bus service with the South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority.

The SC1 connects 12 bus stops in the city centre giving access to areas that regular bus services don’t reach. It allows people to hop onto the bus from the train, tram or other bus services at different points across the city centre and access key locations. The Sheffield Connect runs seven days a week, with a regular service through the day.

From Monday 8 April 2024, bus users in Sheffield have been able to enjoy their journey around the city centre in the comfort of a brand new, zero emission bus. And that’s not all. Not only is the service electric, the Sheffield Connect is also a completely free service for everyone to use seven days a week around the core of the city centre. The SC1 runs up to every seven to eight minutes, so you can just turn up and go. And an additional second route, the SC2, began running on Monday 8 April too. Running every 20 minutes, this new route will also be completely free to use and zero-emission. It connects to The Moor, Arundel Gate, the Interchange, Castlegate and West Bar.

You can view the route and timetable online via Travel South Yorkshire: https://www.travelsouthyorkshire.com/en-gb/newsupdates/sheffield-connect

What will the changes to Rockingham Street be like? Will cars be restricted?

We will create a new ‘hub’ of high-quality bus stops on Rockingham Street as part of the re-routing works.

Instead of using Carver Street – Division Street – Rockingham Street, we will change the junction of West Street and Rockingham Street to allow buses to turn into Rockingham Street to provide a quicker, more direct route. Rockingham Street, which is currently one-way when travelling from Division Street towards West Street, will be made two-way and a bus gate will be introduced between Devonshire Lane and Wellington Street, access for buses travelling towards Charter Row only. We will retain access to all premises on Rockingham Street. We plan to implement these changes in summer 2024.

What do you mean by bus priority?

Bus priority measures include bus gates and bus lanes which means only public transport, including taxis and bikes can travel through them during the hours they operate. Bus priority also involves measures like detecting buses and giving them priority on their approach through traffic signals.

This helps buses to run on time which makes public transport more reliable, and a realistic and attractive alternative to car travel. Fewer people driving means less congestion for everyone, whether you travel by car often, sometimes or never.

Why are you giving advantage to buses over cars?

A bus can carry far more passengers than a car, so if we can improve infrastructure for buses and make journeys quicker and more reliable, we hope to encourage more people to travel by bus rather than by car which will mean fewer car journeys being made. This will reduce congestion, help to improve air quality and support the city’s economy by getting more people to work with less difficulty.

Our plans to grow the city include an additional 36,000 homes across Sheffield, with 20,000 planned for the city centre. So, we need to have better options for people to move around the city and avoid additional congestion. We want to make the bus a better, more realistic option for people, that’s more reliable and quicker to its destination.

Car and Taxi Questions

How will the changes affect cars?

While some car access routes will change, you’ll still be able to access car parks across the city centre. We’ll need to remove on-street pay and display and disabled parking on Surrey Street and Charles Street.

We will prioritise a number of existing on-street parking spaces for blue badge holders on Union Street, Leopold Street and Burgess Street to compensate for the spaces we need to remove, and ensure that spaces closest to some of the city’s shops and services are available for people who have the greatest mobility needs. The bus gates we’re proposing on parts of Furnival Gate and Rockingham Street, and the one we’ve installed on Arundel Gate, will reduce the number of cars and vans on these routes. This will make bus journeys quicker and more reliable.

What is the vision for car traffic? Where and why is traffic access being maintained?

The key aim of Connecting Sheffield is to encourage more people to walk, wheel, cycle or catch public transport into the city centre where possible by making these attractive, safe and reliable choices. But we understand that car access will remain important for many people. So, you’ll still be able to access the city centre and car parks, but your journey right through the city centre might look different so we can reduce traffic in the civic heart and create more space for people and events.

Will access for deliveries be changed as a result of the pedestrianisation/limited vehicle access to roads such as Pinstone Street, Surrey Street, Charles Street and Arundel Gate?

Part of Pinstone Street, between Cross Burgess Street and Fargate, and part of Surrey Street, between Fargate and Norfolk Street, will be pedestrian and cycle only zones with restricted access for loading and servicing. The restricted access will allow delivery vehicles to enter the zone between 6pm and 10am each day. You’ll be able to deliver to Surrey Street via an intercom-controlled bollard entry point on Fargate where it meets High Street, or via Pinstone Street. There will be no entry from Norfolk Street. You’ll be able to deliver to the upper part of Pinstone Street around the Town Hall and Peace gardens from the lower part of Pinstone Street.

I live/own a business based at Heart of the City. How will these changes affect access to my property/unit?

The nature of the changes that may impact you depend on your location. We will allow access for deliveries in all circumstances, but they will be timed to specific hours.

Have you considered the risk that traffic will be displaced and cause congestion on other roads such as Sheaf Street/Inner Ring Road?

We have assessed all the proposed changes to understand the impact they will have on surrounding roads. Enabling people to make more trips using public transport, on foot or by bike will reduce traffic and make the city centre a safer, more pleasant place to spend time, becoming more people focused.

According to our planning and analysis, we have concluded that we can accommodate any displacement of traffic on the road network.

Will taxis be subjected to the same rules as cars when it comes to limited access through bus gates and roads such as Pinstone Street and Arundel Gate? If so, where will we be allowed to drop off our customers?

Similarly to Fargate and The Moor, taxis will not be able to use the sections of Pinstone Street or Surrey Street covered by the proposed pedestrian and cycle zone. Only loading for local businesses and services will be permitted at certain times.

Bus gates will also allow Hackney carriage taxis and private hire vehicles to use them. People will still be able to be picked up and dropped off by taxis wherever it is safe to do so, just as you can now. Where will taxi ranks be based moving forward? There are no proposed changes to taxi ranks.

Public Realm Questions

How are public space improvements being incorporated into this scheme?

‘Bringing the Outdoor City into the City’ and making key streets more attractive and greener is a key ambition of Connecting Sheffield: City Centre.

We will create new planting, greenery and landscaping, integrated with flood mitigation measures, on pedestrian routes along the newly created space running down Pinstone Street, Rockingham Street, Charles Street and Arundel Gate, similar to those we have created through ‘Grey to Green’ schemes at West Bar, Castlegate and Charter Square.

The scheme will use an integrated approach bringing together the public space improvements with the need to provide movements for walking, wheeling and cycling. The planting areas will help shape people’s route choice, manage busy pedestrian flows and create more space between people walking, wheeling and cycling and motorised traffic on the road.

We aim to create a healthier city life with diverse, attractive spaces that encourage people to enjoy the city centre. This multi-functional ‘Green Street’ approach brings together the connectivity needs of the transport system with an environment that’s vibrant and adaptive to climate change, bringing benefits for both people and the environment.

Will any trees be removed as part of this scheme? And will any new trees be planted?

This project provides the opportunity to improve the environment in the city centre, creating green streets and planting more trees, shrubs and flowers. There will be a net increase in the number of trees in the city centre.

We don’t plan to remove any trees at this stage, but we are currently doing tree root surveys to confirm if there is any potential conflict with the design proposals.

Any decisions on tree removal won’t be clear until we finalise the designs.

We will consider any potential tree removal with the full involvement of the Street Tree Partnership, affected parties and stakeholders to determine the best overall approach.

Accessibility Questions

Will the cobbling on Surrey Street and Fargate remain?

Where we show that we’ll replace cobbling, we’ll swap it for with high-quality paving which has a smoother surface and is easier to walk and cycle on. The paving will be consistent throughout Fargate, Pinstone Street, Surrey Street and Charles Street. You can see an example of the paving which is currently being laid on Fargate.

How will pedestrians be able to cross cycle routes, particularly in busy areas? How will visually impaired or elderly people navigate across such routes?

We have designed the scheme in line with up-to-date highway design standards which incorporate the needs of all road users. The principle behind the cycle routes is that that they are segregated and so we’ll use clear differences between the footway and cycleway. Crossing points will give priority to pedestrians. We will lay tactile paving will be laid to segregate footways and cycleways.

I rely on direct access to the core city centre area via bus or taxi due to a disability. Where will I now be able to get dropped off?

You can still be picked up and dropped off in cars or by taxis wherever it’s safe. We are locating bus stops as close to the centre as possible, in convenient places. The Sheffield Connect bus service also runs around the city centre. It runs seven days a week, with a regular service through the day and runs two routes to connect to key locations in the city centre.

Won’t these plans make it more difficult for older or vulnerable people to access the centre?

Overall, we hope the plans will make it better for older and vulnerable people to enjoy the city centre. Our plans see reduced traffic in and around key shopping areas of the city, as well as new pedestrianised areas. We also aim to make the city centre more attractive, and increasing public space will feature benches for people to rest and relax across the area.

The Sheffield Connect bus service also runs around the city centre. It runs seven days a week, with a regular service through the day and runs two routes to connect to key locations in the city centre.

Car Parking Questions

What impact will this have on on-street parking in the City Centre?

We will need to relocate some on-street blue badge car parking spaces in the city centre, so we will lose some general pay and display on-street parking. We will prioritise some existing on-street parking spaces for blue badge holders to ensure that the spaces closest to some of the city’s shops and services are available for people who have the greatest mobility needs.

The primary locations we’re looking at to relocate the disabled parking bays we’re removing are, at this stage, on Union Street and Norfolk Street. We are currently reviewing pay and display parking in the city centre, and any potential changes will need Council approval before we make any decisions. We will then need to apply for a Traffic Regulation Order (TRO), which is a legal requirement, to remove the parking bays. At this point, you’ll be able to formally support or object to the changes. We must address all objections in line with our TRO procedures.

The city also has a number of high-quality public car parks close to shops and amenities in the city centre.

We’ll also accommodate drop offs for weddings and VIP visitors to the Town Hall by changing the parking bay on Barkers Pool from ‘police vehicles only’ to ‘permit holders’ for special events. Increased pavement space means commuters and visitors can browse and travel through the area easily. This will create outdoor space that can cater for events associated with the Town Hall and Peace Gardens. It will also offer an opportunity for businesses like cafes and restaurants to provide outdoor seating.

Will the changes to car access limit my ability to access car parks across the City Centre?

No – you can still access all city centre car parks, but it may mean that your route to certain car parks may change.

Next Steps Questions

How far advanced are plans?

We consulted on our plans in 2021. We’ve taken your feedback on board, and now we’re sharing the updated plans based on the consultation.

Will there be an opportunity to have my say again on the plans at a later date?

You can submit comments on the current plans:

Write to us at Freepost Connecting SHF

Email: info@connecting-sheffield.co.uk

These proposals represent our final plans for the Connecting Sheffield: City Centre scheme. While we’re working with businesses to make sure we can accommodate the needs for delivery and loading access, we have limited scope for making changes to the design at this stage. We still welcome your comments and feedback – we’ll consider any we receive and respond to you, whether we’re able to make changes or not. You will have the chance to comment again at the TRO stage.

Later in the process, there will be a period of statutory consultation when we submit the Traffic Regulation Orders necessary to implement the final scheme. You’ll have the opportunity to provide support, comments or raise objections at this stage of the process too.

You can find out more about the Traffic Regulation Order process on the Sheffield City Council website (https://www.sheffield.gov.uk/home/roads-pavements/road-improvement-requests).