THE Petersfield town centre enhancement scheme and the safer route to school project being undertaken by junior and infant schools are set to benefit from a cash boost for transport in Hampshire.

Hampshire County Council announced just before Christmas news of a successful bid for £30m government funding for several transport initiatives in the county.

The capital investment for 2003 to 2004 will be spent on schemes designed to ease congestion, give people a better choice of how they travel and improve the environment and quality of life for residents.

They include £13.1 million for highways maintenance on roads and bridges, and funding towards a light rail system linking Fareham, Gosport and Portsmouth.

The cash also means that more than 300 transport projects can be progressed throughout Hampshire, including support for the Petersfield town centre enhancement scheme, which begins its third phase at the end of this month.

The three-part scheme was proposed after a survey which formed part of the Petersfield Area Transportation Strategy (PATS).

PATS was launched in December 2000 and sets out a series of proposals for the Petersfield area over the next 20 years.

It has been developed following work by the county council in partnership with East Hampshire District Council and Petersfield Town Council.

The first phase consisted of improvement work to St PeterÕs Road between The Square

and the police station.

The second stage of work included improvements to The Square, which were scheduled for completion at the end of October.

The latest phase aims to improve conditions for pedestrians in the High Street with measures including footways widening, and three courtesy crossing points in the High Street to encourage pedestrians to cross the road in safer places with good visibility and formalised on-street parking.

It also includes gateway features incorporating coloured surfacing and traffic signs at the entry point to the 20-mph zones, resurfacing the High Street, and three alleyways next to the High Street and new parking bays.

The 20-mph limit is proposed in the historic core of the town including the High Street, The Square, part of Chapel Street, St PeterÕs Road, Sheep Street, Hylton Road and part of The Spain. Traffic regulation orders will be needed before the work can go ahead.

Among the other projects set to benefit from the Government funding are the safer routes to schools currently being explored throughout East Hampshire.

Petersfield Infant School is working with the transport development officer on completing its travel plan by April 2003 so that it can be submitted to Hampshire Country CouncilÕs Safe Routes to School team. The travel plan will outline the possible initiatives that will ease traffic congestion around the school and promote sustainable transport.

The initial survey work of pupil travel patterns has been completed.

Arrangements for parents to make use of the Tesco car-park during the start and finish of school have been very successful, it was reported.

Liss Infant and Junior Schools are well on their way to completing their joint travel plan. A comprehensive questionnaire study has been completed by parents on their childrenÕs journeys to school. Pupils have been actively involved in carrying out a survey of traffic speeds in Hillbrow Road, and officers from East Hampshire District Council took part in the road safety week held in Liss Junior School last term.

The county council executive member for environment, Keith Estlin, said: ÒThis is excellent news for both the county council and the people of Hampshire. We are delighted that our hard work has been rewarded with a a settlement that is significantly higher than last yearÕs Ð in fact ours is the highest settlement of all

19 local authorities in the south-east.Ó

He added: ÒThis is perhaps not surprising given that the government has confirmed for the second year running that our local transport is Ôwell above averageÕ and Hampshire county council has been

granted centre-of-excellence

status for its integrated transport planning.

ÒWhilst this is great news in terms of our capital funding, the county council is facing a £45m shortfall in government grant next year, because it received the joint lowest settlement of all county councils as part of the governmentÕs bid to shift resources north.Ó