TWO North-East councils have applied for Government grants worth more than £4.3m in an effort to improve road safety.

Darlington Borough Council and Middlesbrough Council, under the umbrella of local enterprise partnership Tees Valley Unlimited (TVU), hope to be awarded the Cycle City Ambition funding from the Department for Transport.

If successful, the scheme would see a 20mph speed limit introduced in residential streets across Darlington and more public cycle ways in Middlesbrough.

The authorities will find out later this month if their bid for funding has been successful.

The TVU bid document states: “Darlington has a more advanced cycle network than other areas of the Tees Valley, as a result of heavy funding investment of recent years.

“As a result, the focus there will be on implementing town-wide 20mph zones, which will create an attractive environment to encourage more cycling.

“This will also improve the pedestrian and residential environment of the areas affected.

“On the contrary, Middlesbrough is in the final stages of completing a town-wide 20mph scheme and although it has an expanding network of cycle facilities, it does not have the same level as Darlington.

“With a successful funding bid, it would bring both areas up to comparable levels of cycling-related infrastructure.”

The proposed 20mph zones in Darlington would be introduced in six phases – firstly the south-east area of the borough, followed by the northern area between the East Coast Main Line and branch line, then the remaining geographical areas: north-west, north-east, finally inner and out west end areas.

The main roads, such as the A167 North Road and the busy ring road, would remain at 30mph.

If the bid is successful, the first 20mph zones could be rolled out by the end of the summer.

Matthew Snedker (correct), co-ordinator of road safety campaign group 20’s Plenty, said the 20mph zones would increase walking and cycling, as well as improving health through greater levels of activity and better air quality.

He said: “We have been working very hard for the past two years, with the council, to help it understand the benefits of the 20’s Plenty policy, such as reducing road deaths and injuries.”