Hunter's Bar Roundabout sits at the intersection of busy pedestrian and cycling routes at the heart of southwest Sheffield, and presents a dangerous obstacle to both walking and cycling [1]. 

We are calling on the Council to humanise the area around Hunter’s Bar roundabout to provide pedestrian and cyclist journeys that are safe, easy and pleasant, while maintaining flow for all road users. Changes should include widening pavements to prevent people spilling onto the road or blocking pedestrian flow, single-stage crossings with sufficient green time and low wait times, dedicated cycleways across the junction and sufficient space at bus stops. 

Our vision of Hunter’s Bar Roundabout: 

We’d like to see the hundreds of essential local journeys that are already done on foot every day to schools, nurseries, medical appointments, work or shops made easier, safer and more pleasant. We’d like to see pedestrian and cyclist injuries significantly reduced at Hunter’s Bar Roundabout [1].

We would like the area around Hunter’s Bar to live up to Sheffield’s reputation of an outdoor, green city with easy, safe access to and from Endcliffe Park. Children from the local primary schools just across the roundabout should be able to quickly, safely and easily access this great outdoor space. 

We’d like the many pedestrians who visit Endcliffe Park daily to have convenient access to the local shops along Ecclesall Road and Sharrow Vale Road, to bring increased footfall and business to these areas. We note that investment in pedestrian and cycling infrastructure is a cost-effective way of significantly increasing retail sales [2].

To this end, we are asking the council to implement the following changes:

• Widening of pavements around the junction and on roads leading up to it. All pedestrians, including wheelchair users and double-pushchair users, should be safely accommodated on the pavements without having to step onto the road or causing a blockage. Particular emphasis should be placed on areas around bus stops, shops and the local schools. 
• Single Phase crossings with sufficient green time so that pedestrians, particularly children, are not trapped breathing toxic fumes on the refuges in the middle of the carriageway between moving vehicles. This will also increase the sense of safety as phased crossings can be confusing, and as such pose a danger.
• Lower wait times for pedestrians at crossings to avoid pedestrians crossing unsafely during the ‘red man’ phase.  
• Infrastructure (e.g. bollards) to deter pavement parking where it occurs near the roundabout and on the surrounding street corners.
• Dedicated cycleways across the junction so that pedestrians and cyclists, including child cyclists, have enough space to navigate the junction safely without blocking the busy pedestrian crossings or endangering other pavement users.

[1] On this roundabout alone, there were 18 pedestrian and cyclist injuries reported to the police between 2013-2019 [data from THINK! Map of road injuries reported to police, maintained by the Department for Transport. Accessed 27/11/2021] as well as many unreported near misses.

[2] Research shows that walking and other non-motorised transport projects typically increase retail sales by 30%. There is strong evidence that pedestrians and cyclists spend more than people arriving by motorised transport, despite traders considerably over-estimating spending by shoppers travelling by car, and significantly undervaluing the spend of bus passengers and pedestrians. Sources: The Pedestrian Pound: The Business Case For Better Streets and Places by Eilís Lawlor and Moira Taske (2018 edition) and TFL Walking and Cycling: The Economic Benefits and references therein.