Major changes to the shape of Grantham's High Street have emerged in planned changes to make the town centre more friendly for bikes and pedestrians.

They include making part of it one way, but further consultations are planned before the trail scheme is carried out.

The Department for Transport (DfT) has awarded Lincolnshire County Council £799,900 to help fund such schemes.

As Nub News reported recently, Grantham has been selected to be one of several trial towns in the county after a survey showed public support locally.

Central government believes such schemes will improve public health, the environment and quality of life. Government also says there will also be savings in healthcare costs as people become healthier, with it blaming growing car use for fuelling obesity.

After a trial for Grantham's and schemes in other towns, Lincolnshire County Council will then decide whether to make the permanent following further public consultation.

The Grantham plans include the following:

The scheme will start at the junction with Market Place, providing an 'escape route' for drivers who may have inadvertently taken a wrong turn.

At Market Place junction buses and cycles will be able to proceed southbound but general traffic will not. This will go as far as St Peter's Hill.

Guildhall Street will be closed at the junction with High Street

Heading northbound from St Peter's Hill general traffic will be allowed.

A right turn facility will need to be inserted at Finkin Street to allow access

Traffic turning on to High Street from St Peter's Hill will be able to turn right to head northbound.

At St Peter's Hill a lane will be removed from each side

On the western side this will be protected from the Highway by parklets and other similar infrastructure to create a better pedestrian space. The second lane will be for both straight ahead and right turning traffic.

On the eastern side the eastern most lane will remain as a bike/bus lane. The other lane will be for general traffic. A filter will be implemented a good distance before the signalised junction..

All measures will be enacted via an Experimental Traffic Order. This will provide a further period of engagement of 6 months to allow for adjustments to the scheme

Grantham County Councillor, who is Lincolnshire County Council's Executive Councillor for Highways, Transport and IT, said: "Recent consultation with residents and businesses has drawn out the following ideas for Grantham, and the maps attached show the extent of the scheme from north to south.

"The blue lines are 'general traffic', the green lines are 'bus and bike' traffic, the solid red line shows the Guildhall Street closure location, and the dotted red line shows the St Peter's Hill lane removal."

Coun Davies continued: "The ideas received majority support, and many people I spoke to agreed that simply carrying on with a car focus would not benefit Grantham.

"The fact of the matter is that our town will continue to decline unless something radical is done.

"I remember how vibrant the town centre was when I walked along it on my way to school; nearly 30 years ago, the demise is palpable. I'm not suggesting we can go back to those times, habits have changed too much, but we can do something positive to revitalise how Grantham looks and feels."

He further explained: "As organisations like Historic England have pointed out we need to remove the volume of cars from the town centre and do more to make it an attractive place to shop, live and work.

"Locally Newark and Stamford have shown that towns can thrive without the car priority in the centre; why shouldn't Grantham do the same?

He added: "We are now looking at further discussions with residents and community group so before launching the trial in the near future. I would highlight the fact it is a trial and therefore changes can be made when issues and problems arise, e.g. delivery access."