Sheffield 2040: A city centre transport revolution

Good afternoon readers — and welcome to this week’s Monday briefing.

“Get out of the city centre” screams The Star’s sensationalist splash today. The story is about the council’s City Centre Access and Movement Plan, which outlines how transport in the city centre will change over the next 15 years, and how it will affect car usage. However, drill a little deeper and the plan is only to reduce car use by 20%, or one in five car journeys, which doesn't sound quite so draconian. Nevertheless, if enacted, the plans would represent the biggest change to how we all get around the city centre since the introduction of Supertram in the early 1990s. So, what is the council’s long-term vision? That’s today’s big story.

As well as that, we have an update on the latest woes at Sheffield Wednesday, a street art tour of the city centre, and a lovely “dormer bungalow” in Grenoside.

In case you missed it

For our weekend read, Dan returned to the small South Yorkshire town of Wath-upon-Dearne a year after it experienced some of the worst racial violence this country has ever seen. Many in the community want to move on, but with continuing protests at hotels around the country as well as here in South Yorkshire, it’s not that simple. You can read that piece here.

Last week we sent out two great newsletters to our paying members. In the first, regular contributor Holly Williams bagged the enviable journalistic assignment of reviewing the best ice cream in Sheffield. To find out which came out on top you’ll have to become a member. And in the second we tackled another of Sheffield’s Big Questions as asked how the city’s population has changed over the last decade. That piece included some great interactive data visualisations and maps so be sure to check it out if you haven't already.

The big picture: Golden hour 🌇

There are some brilliant Sheffield-based photographers on Instagram, but one we haven't used before is Sam Gorse. He recently posted a series of “golden hour” shots of Sheffield including this gorgeous one of Park Hill flats. To check out the rest of his photos, click here.

The big story: Sheffield 2040 — A city centre transport revolution

Top line: Sheffield council has unveiled its vision for how it wants the city centre transport system to look in 15 years time. If it all comes about, it would mean the biggest change in the way we use the city centre in decades.

The vision: The City Centre Access and Movement Plan sets out how Sheffield council wants the city centre transport system to look by 2040. It would be the biggest change since the creation of Supertram 30 years ago. Over the next 15 years they want to reduce the amount of cars coming into the city centre, make the area better for walkers and cyclists, and improve public transport.

Walking, wheeling and cycling: The plan wants to enable more walking, wheeling and cycling in the city centre. It will do this by expanding the number of pedestrianised streets in the heart of the city centre, including the remainder of Cambridge Street (pictured below). There will also be a new "cycling inner ring road" within the existing inner ring road used by cars. This route would link up the existing river Sheaf Cycle Route with Bridge Street, Kelham Island, Shepherd Street, Upper Allan Street and Young Street at the bottom of The Moor.

Bus corridor: The plan also sees a big expansion and improvement in bus transport, aided by bringing the system back into public control in 2027. Arundel Gate — the busiest part of the city centre’s bus network — would become a “high-quality bus priority corridor”: a street prioritised for buses in both directions. There would also be a major redesign of the Pond Street bus station to better link it up with Arundel Gate and Sheffield Station.

Extension of Supertram: The most eye-catching part of the vision is the extension of Supertram, with a new "city centre loop" connecting Royal Hallamshire Hospital and Moorfoot. The plan says this proposed loop will also “enhance the resilience of the network by ensuring that disruptions in the city centre do not impact the entire Supertram system”.

Fewer cars: Overall, the plan hopes to reduce the amount of cars coming into the city centre by 20%. The plan says that cars with just one or two people in them make “very inefficient use of the available road space” and capacity for other forms of transport will need to be “significantly expanded”.  There will still be access routes for cars and vans which need to get into the centre of Sheffield, as well as “strategic car parks” at key points throughout the city centre.

Have your say: Rather than being set in stone, the plan is just a draft for consultation at the moment. You can give your views here. The council will also be holding three in-person events over the next month (details here).

Our take: This vision addresses a common complaint about transport changes: that they’re not joined up. Its overall aims — reducing car usage and making it easier to travel sustainably — are sound. The big question now is whether the  council has the political will, and the money, to bring it about.

Your Tribune briefing 🗞️

⚽ ️The Championship season starts in just six days' time and there is still no end in sight to the turmoil at crisis hit Sheffield Wednesday. Players and staff wages weren’t paid again at the end of July while chairman Dejphon Chansiri still hasn’t sold the club and last week it was revealed that Sheffield council had issued a prohibition notice for the north stand at Hillsborough (which contains 9,255 seats), meaning fans won’t be allowed to use that bit of the ground until the club can prove it is safe. Players have begun jumping ship including Josh Windass, Michael Smith and Callum Paterson. However, one bright point was the continuing loyalty of club captain Barry Bannan, who signed a contract extension on Saturday despite the turmoil. “Build the man a statue,” wrote The Star’s Wednesday reporter Joe Crann.

🔎Yet another investigation has been launched into The Sheffield College’s results in English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) qualifications. Gateway Qualifications, a company that provides exam qualifications and resources for ESOL courses have confirmed that they too are trying to work out what’s happened. Gateway join a growing list, along with the combined authority (who oversee the funds the college receives), awarding body City & Guilds, and the college themselves. Know something? Get in touch. You can read our exclusive about the story here.

🏫 Two private schools near Sheffield have closed after the trust that runs them went into administration. Mount St Mary's College in Spinkhill and its prep school, Barlborough Hall School, announced the closure last week, blaming "increasing financial pressures" since 2015 and the government’s recent changes to VAT and tax relief for private schools. The closure means around 500 pupils will have to find new school places, just weeks before the new school year is due to start. The Department for Education said the trust had been operating a “substantial deficit” for the past five years, well ahead of the end to tax breaks in January.

This week’s weather 🌥️

Our weather forecast comes from dedicated Sheffield weather service Steel City Skies, who are predicting a bit of a mixed bag for this week, including Storm Floris on Monday but the promise of higher temperatures coming back for the weekend.

Monday 🌦️💨 Storm Floris: a spell of rain through the morning, clearing to blustery showers later on. Gusts widely in the 40-50mph range with highs of 21C.

Tuesday 🌦️ Leaves us in a typical clearing pattern with sunshine and showers. Almost spring-like, with gusty winds and fresher temperatures too. Highs of 20C at best.

Wednesday ⛅ High pressure then builds in from the southwest. Still breezy from the west, but far less so than earlier. Sunny spells and mostly dry with a warmer 23C the high.

Thursday 🌦️ Our high gets flattened by another low to the north, while a weakening front is expected to bring some rain or showers during the day, with bright spells otherwise. Highs of 22C.

Friday ⛅The brisk westerly wins remains, with a mostly dry and fine day expected. Temperatures recovering but no heat yet, with highs of 22C.

Outlook 😎 Largely dry and warm through next weekend as high pressure trends a little further north and east. Temperatures above average with some sunny spells and just the low risk of a shower.

To see the full forecast and keep up to date with any changes to the outlook, follow Steel City Skies on Facebook.

The weekly Whitworth ✍️

Cartoonist James Whitworth with his take on Sheffield Wednesday’s latest woes.

Home of the week 🏡

This four bedroom detached “dormer bungalow” (a one-and-a-half storey house with extra living areas in the roof space for those who don’t know) in Grenoside is beautiful inside but it's the outside space that’s the real star. As well as a lovely terrace, it also has a spacious rear garden which offers great views over the valley below. It is on the market for £450,000.

Things to do 📆

Art 🖼️ On Tuesday, join Sheffield Museums for a relaxed walking tour of some of the large-scale murals that decorate Sheffield’s streets. The 90-minute tour begins at 2pm at the Millennium Gallery and ends at the Phlegm mural on the former Eyewitness Works building. Tickets are £10.

Music 🎷 Also on Tuesday, join the Jazz Hot Six at their monthly residency at Yellow Arch Studios. Ever since the sad closure of the Dorothy Pax at Victoria Quays, the band have been hosting their monthly dance parties at the Burton Road venue. They play everything from early (1930s-40s) traditional Gypsy Swing through to the bebop era of the early 50s and beyond. Entrance is free.

Tour 🛥️ Every Thursday during the school holidays, the National Emergency Services Museum's 47-foot-long, “City of Sheffield” Lifeboat will be open for visitors to climb aboard. Discover the vital role this lifesaving vessel once played, sit in the very seats used by the lifeboat crew, and climb down into the survival cabins to see where the rescued people would have taken shelter. Tickets are priced from £5.50 to £9.50 (under 3s go free).