Levelling Up Fund - Background Information

Overview

We are Slough Borough Council’s Transport Planning team. We consult residents, commuters, businesses and stakeholders to understand what they think about proposed changes to our roads, footways and public realm.

Why your views matter

Background

The UK Government has launched Round 2 of the Levelling Up Fund (LUF2). LUF2 is designed to invest in infrastructure that improves everyday life across the UK. The £4.8 billion fund will support town centre and high street regeneration, local transport projects, and cultural and heritage assets. Across the UK, local authorities are eligible to submit bids for the Fund, which was announced at the government’s Spring Statement 2022, and we will be submitting a bid.

Our bid

Slough Borough Council’s bid focuses on three proposed interrelated transport capital investment schemes, which would improve multi-modal transport options and add value by increasing access to employment, housing, leisure and culture, both locally and more widely across the region.

There is a separate consultation page for each proposed scheme, with the general information about our proposed bid included below.

Each proposed scheme responds to specific infrastructure requirements, which, when combined, would deliver a package of significant sustainable transport improvements and public realm upgrades that would:

1. stimulate economic activity, and improve safety and connectivity, to strengthen the identity of Farnham Road (between its junctions with Essex Avenue and Sheffield Road) as a key destination
2. improve access to and from Salt Hill Park for pedestrians and cyclists, and provide an attractive and welcoming Western Gateway to the Heart of Slough
3. Improve bus priority and accessibility to bus stops on Farnham Road

Such capital investment would also help to:

• refresh dated public realm
• reallocate road space to improve connectivity to and around the borough by sustainable modes (including walking, cycling and buses)
• improve the health and economic wellbeing of residents, employees and visitors by encouraging them to engage in a range of activities and establishing connected, vibrant, cohesive spaces for recreation, business and social opportunity
• provide a gateway experience leading eastwards to the Heart of Slough
• increase the use of existing facilities, including Salt Hill Park, the Slough Ice Arena and Salt Hill Activity Centre
• unlock and consolidate one of the borough’s district centres as a distinct, attractive and thriving destination while improving connections to existing transport hubs across the borough and beyond

Farnham Road Public Realm

We want to improve the public realm of Farnham Road (between its junctions with Essex Avenue and Sheffield Road), including introducing safer pedestrian areas, and to improve cycling infrastructure, improve access to local shops and businesses for users of all modes of transport, and reduce car dominance and car use.

We also want to enhance the landscape of the area, restore a sense of place, and identify Farnham Road (between its junctions with Essex Avenue and Sheffield Road) as a distinctive location by strengthening and communicating the area’s character and identity.

Farnham Road Public Realm

Salt Hill Park and Western Gateway

Salt Hill Park is the borough's premier park and represents the borough's heritage. Yet the surrounding road space does not enhance this asset, with the southern park entrance leading onto the A4 Bath Road, a congested route that no longer complements the park.

Improving the Three Tuns junction, west of the park, connecting the green space, and seeing the spaces working together could help establish a sense of place. Introducing a coherent design, using existing and new materials and additional streetscape would create a Western Gateway experience leading into the Heart of Slough and unify the north and south sides of the town. This would help us to achieve a functionable urban realm that would improve the quality of, and access to, the park and its surrounding neighbourhoods.

Salt Hill Park and Western Gateway

Farnham Road Bus Accessibility

Farnham Road has a good daytime bus service, with direct links to various parts of the Borough and neighbouring authorities, but the buses can be delayed by traffic congestion. All buses serving Farnham Road are low floor, providing good access to older and disabled people, including wheelchair users, but access to the bus stops is sometimes blocked by parked vehicles, preventing this.

We want to improve the reliability and journey time of buses on Farnham Road by upgrading and revising the phasing of the traffic signals along the full length of Farnham Road within the Borough. We also want to improve access to the bus stops by adjusting their locations where needed, by introducing parking restrictions to prevent vehicles blocking access, and by improving footways and removing clutter.

Farnham Road Bus Accessibility

Figure 1: How the three proposed schemes link together

Image: Zac Byrne

National Cycle Network Route 461 (not shown on figure 1 above), enables cyclists to travel between Farnham Road and the A4 Bath Road via Baylis Park and Salt Hill Park on a primarily off-road, quiet route.

Please help us

This consultation is an opportunity for you to have your say on the vision for each of the three proposed schemes and provide some general feedback on how they could be improved, as we have not yet prepared detailed designs for them.

Please tell us how you currently use these areas and facilities, list any existing problems that need addressing, and tell us about improvements you would like to see and any potential issues with our vision.

Your insight, feedback and views are important as they will help us to shape the proposed schemes, decide whether to submit the schemes for our bid in July 2022, and to draw up detailed designs if we do.

Please talk to your neighbours and the local community and get them involved!

For more details and to give your views on the proposed schemes see the links to the three separate consultation pages below.

Farnham Road Public Realm

Salt Hill Park and Western Gateway

Farnham Road Bus Accessibility

Please respond to any of the three as you wish, by 23:59 on Thursday 30 June 2022.

Further information

If you would like further information to enable you to respond to this consultation, or a copy of this information in another format or language, please:

• email us at TransportPlanning@slough.gov.uk, or
• write to us at Transport, Slough Borough Council, Observatory House, 25 Windsor Road, Slough SL1 2EL, or
• call us on 01753 475111 (asking for a message and your contact details to be passed to the Transport team)

Please state "Levelling Up Fund Consultation - Background Information - Enquiry"

What happens next

Thank you for reading the background information.

For more details on the three proposed schemes please see: 

Farnham Road Public Realm

Salt Hill Park and Western Gateway

Farnham Road Bus Accessibility