Riverbank Meadows Travel Information Booklet

Riverbank Meadows Travel Information Booklet

Contents What s in this Guide? This booklet has been prepared on behalf of Kier Living Northern, and forms part of the Travel Plan for Riverbank Meadows. What s in this Guide?... 5 Walking... 6 Cycling... 10 Public Transport... 14 Driving... 20 Travel to School... 23 Travel to Work... 24 The Travel Plan aims to support and encourage sustainable and active travel use by providing the information and infrastructure you need to make that choice. Leaving your car at home a few times a week and travelling by a different mode instead - such as walking, cycling, catching the bus or using the train - has a positive impact on your health, the health of those around you, air quality, traffic levels, climate change. It provides you with a form of exercise and can often save you money. Inside this booklet you will find information about: Walking distances and times around the area Suitable cycle routes and options for travelling by bike Local bus and rail services and the destinations served Ideas for more environmentally frienly and economical car usage A Travel Plan Coordinator is available to answer any questions you have about travelling to and from Riverbank Meadows: Emily Ingham Tel: 0113 246 0204 Email: emily.ingham@foreconsulting.co.uk In the future we will be carrying out surveys to see how you are travelling to work or school, so we can make sure we know how to help you travel by sustainable transport if you want to. This may be via an online survey, a quick visit to you house, or asking a few questions as you are leaving Riverbank Meadows in the morning. 2 3

Pedestrian Catchment and Local Amenities Walking For those who are physically able, walking is a great option for getting where you need to be. You don t need specialist equipment and you don t have to buy tickets or think about parking. It is reliable, too, as it always takes the same amount of time. It is recommended that adults take 150 minutes of moderate exercise each week. That can seem daunting, but if you walk for 20 minutes each day, you re almost there! According to NHS Choices, regular walking has been shown to reduce the risk of chronic illnesses, such as heart disease, type 2 diabetes, asthma, stroke and some cancers. Walking routes can be planned using the journey planner on the Walkit website at www.walkit.com, and there is also a Walkit app. You can choose between quieter and more direct routes to suit you. What can I walk to? The play area is within a 5 minute walk and has seating, grass, a tyre swing and other equipment. The bus stop for the 188 service in on the turning circle, 3 minutes from Riverbank Meadows, and Tieve Tara medical centre and pharmacy is a 15 minute walk. The Square is a 25 minute walk down Fryston Road, and has a Co-op food shop, Tesco Express, Airedale Library, Premier convenience shop, salons, post office, ATM, pharmacy and several take-away outlets. The Square can also be reached on the 188 bus. The Hut leisure centre is 5 minutes from the Square and has bowling, skating, football and lots of other classes and activities. The local schools are within a 30 minute walk - see Travel to School on page 23 for more information. 4 Key: 1. Riverbank Meadows 2. Play Area 3. Bus Stop for 188 to Castleford/ Wakefield and Knottingley 4. Tieve Tara Medical Centre and Pharmacy 5. The Square 6. The Hut Leisure Centre 7. Oyster Park Primary School 8. Fairburn View Primary School 9. Airedale Junior School 10. Airedale Infant School 11. The Pathways School 12. Townville Infant School 13. Airedale Academy (The map on page 10 shows Fryston Country Trails and Fairburn Ings Nature Reserve)

Leisure Walking Routes On your doorstep you will find the start of the Fryston Country Trails. Spanning 65-hectares, these trails are perfect for summer walks with children or the dog. The trails cover 8km of scenic footpaths alongside the River Aire. Accessibility for children, older people or people with disabilities is generally good, although some trails may be unsuitable, as shown on the map below. Go to thelandtrust.org.uk/fryston-country-trails for more information. RSPB Fairburn Ings Nature Reserve (picture opposite) can be found by following the Fryston Country Trails east. It s a 25 minute walk and a great day out, with viewing points, guided walks and a visitor centre, check out rspb.org.uk/fairburnings Map courtesy of The Land Trust. (Riverbank Meadows marked with blue dot.) 6 Photo courtesy of Lydia Monkman

Cycle Routes around Riverbank Meadows Cycling Cycling is a great way to work towards the recommended 150 minutes per week of moderate exercise, as it doubles up as transport to work, the shops, or to school; saving you money, helping the environment, and keeping you fit - all at once! It s also a good way to blow off steam at the weekend and there are loads of great leisure cycle trails around Riverbank Meadows. This includes Fryston Country Trails, offering 8km of off-road cycleways and bridleways, which start right next to Riverbank Meadows (shown on the map on page 8). To see how these local routes connect with routes in the wider area check out the map at fourpointmapping.sustrans.org.uk/westyorkshirecyclemap/westyorkshire.html and plan your journey at www.cyclestreets.net which allows you to choose between quieter and more direct routes. 8 Key: 1. Riverbank Meadows 2. Route to Castleford - 20 minutes via cycle lanes on Wheldon Road 3. Route to The Square (5 minutes) and Junction 32/XScape (25 minutes) via Fryston Road 4. This area contains the Fryston Country Trails network. Purple arrows show how to get on to the trails from surrounding streets. 5. Fairburn Ings Nature Reserve. Access this by travelling east on the Fryston Trails and crossing the Aire Bridge (just off the map). 6. Other off-road cycle paths in the vicinity.

If you would like to start cycling, but are not feeling confident you could take part in a guided ride with Wakefield District Cycle Forum, and they also have lots of maps of leisure routes. Find out more at www.cycling-wakefield.org.uk Alternatively you could book a training course with CityConnect, who are also working on a waterside cycle route between Castleford and Wakefield. Their website is cyclecityconnect.co.uk Castleford town centre is a 20 minute bike ride from Riverbank Meadows, via Weldon Road. Xscape (pictured above) and Junction 32 Retail Outlet are a 25 minute cycle via Fryston Road. 10

Public Transport Journey Planning Find out if you can make your journey by public transport at by heading to planner.wymetro.com/lts/ Bus Arriva service 188 stops at the turning circle on Wheldon Road, a 3 minute walk from the entrance to Riverbank Meadows. One bus per hour (usually 34 minutes past the hour) goes to Wakefield via Castleford, and one per hour (usually 39 minutes past the hour) to Knottingley. They both use the same stop so make sure you read the destination on the front of the bus! The last services arriving/departing between 6.30-7pm Monday to Saturday, and 4.30pm on Sunday. There is an Arriva Bus app for timetable info and an Arriva m-ticket app for buying tickets. Go to www.arrivabus.co.uk/yorkshire to find out more. You can also buy tickets with cash on the bus. There are additional buses to Castleford (bus 156 and 159) from stops on Fryston Road near Elizabeth Drive, a 15 minute walk from Riverbank Meadows. You can look up timetable information at www.wymetro.com/bustravel or call Metroline on 0113 2457676. Bus timetables are updated approximately twice a year so we recommend looking online, or visiting the travel centre at Castleford Bus Station who will provide you with the most up to date information. Accessible Travel West Yorkshire Metro offer Travel Assistance Cards to help people with disabilities and older people. This card lets the driver know about any requirements you may have, so you don t have to explain if you don t want to. AccessBus is a dial-a-ride bus service providing door-to-door local transport, seven days a week between 9am and 5pm and is of particular benefit to people who are unable to use standard bus services, as the driver assists passengers. Call 0113 348 1903 to register with the service. Find out more at www.wymetro.com/howtogetto/accessible 12 13

Train Castleford is the nearest railway station, accessible on the 188 bus which stops 5 minutes walk from the station entrance. You can also get there by cycle (15 minutes), walking (45 minutes) and by car (10 minutes). The station has a car park, and there is level access from the road and car park to the platform. From Castleford there is one train per hour to Wakefield, Knottingley, Barnsley and Sheffield, and two trains per hour to Leeds, all operated by Northern. Pontefract Monkhill station is a 12 minute drive and has direct Grand Central services to London. The map opposite shows the West Yorkshire rail network. If you or the person you are travelling with has a disability or restricted mobility you can book assistance from the train companies websites or by calling 0800 138 5560 (Northern) or 0344 811 0072 (Grand Central). You can buy tickets and/or download travel apps on the train companies websites or you can go to www.nationalrail.co.uk 14

Multi-Operator Tickets As well as the operator-specific tickets mentioned already, you can also buy MCard passes for use on bus and train from Metro. These are smartcards that you can load with travel using the mobile app (currently Android only - search the Google Play Store for MCard), or at Castleford bus station, Leeds rail station and shops showing the PayPoint logo. MCards are available for bus-only travel or for bus and rail. You can buy day, week, month, term or year passes. To travel, put the MCard on the reader on the bus or at rail station barriers. A variety of concessionary travel passes are available to children/young people and to blind and disabled people. If you are unable to travel alone, you may also be able to obtain a special pass entitling a companion to the same concessions when travelling with you within West Yorkshire. Go to the West Yorkshire Metro website ticketsandpasses.wymetro.com or call MetroLine 0113 2457676 for more details. 17

Driving Driving contributes to high traffic volumes and has a negative impact on air quality and the environment, and affects the overall appeal of the area. Before you set out, why not check if you could make your journey by public transport using the West Yorkshire Metro journey planner at planner.wymetro.com/lts/ If you do need to drive, there are a few decisions you can make to help reduce the negative impacts of car travel, and can save you money, too. Read on to find out more. Car sharing If you usually drive you can decrease your impact on the environment and traffic by offering a lift to people who make a journey which is on the same route as yours, or by accepting a lift from someone. Rather than two or more cars making the same journey, drivers can travel together in a single car. You will save money on parking, fuel and vehicle wear and tear. So, whether you d like to be the driver or the passenger, visit the West Yorkshire Car Share website where you can sign up and find someone to share with www.wycarshare.com You could also find out if your employer runs a car share scheme. You might not be able to car share every day, and that s ok you might have child care commitments, or you might be going somewhere after work, like the gym or out for dinner. Car share arrangements can be flexible - you don t have to car share every day to still make a positive impact by reducing traffic on the roads and reducing air pollution. Image courtesy of Enterprise Car Club Car club Only need a car occasionally? Car clubs provide members with convenient access to vehicles without the hassles and expense of ownership (such as tax, MOT, fuel, servicing, repairs, depreciation and parking). According to Car Plus, members who drive less than 8,000 miles per year could save up to 3,500 per annum. You can join a peer-to-peer car share scheme like Easy Car or RideLink, or Enterprise Car Club which provides new vehicles parked in convenient locations. New vehicles are added quite often, so check the Enterprise Car Club website to see if there are vehicles close to Riverbank Meadows. 18 19

Travel to School Walking, scooting or cycling to school is an easy way to include exercise in your child s daily routine (and yours!), and gives you quality time together. They are fun, green modes of transport. Travelling under your own steam rather than driving creates a greener, cleaner environment for your children and your local community that everyone can benefit from. All the local schools can be reached by using the 188 bus from the turning circle, 3 minutes from the entrance to Riverbank Meadows. The schools are shown on the map on page 7. How to get to school Oyster Park Primary School is a 25 minute walk, or you can get off the 188 (towards Knottingley) at Elizabeth Drive, then it s a 7 minute walk. Fairburn View Primary, Townville Infant School, The Pathways School and Airedale Academy are all a 25-30 minute walk from Riverbank Meadows. Or you can get the 188 towards Knottingley, get off at The Square and walk 5 minutes to any of the schools. Airedale Infant and Junior Schools are a 30 minute walk. You can also get the 188 towards Knottingley, disembark at Fryston Road Park Crescent (the stop after The Square) and walk 2 minutes. Castleford Academy can be accessed on the 188 bus towards Wakefield. Get off the bus opposite the Garden House pub and walk down Bridge Street for 10 minutes. Find out about bus tickets on page 14. Depending on where you live, your income and your child s age, your child may qualify for free home to school transport. If they have special educational needs (SEN) or a disability they might also be eligible. Go to www.wakefield.gov.uk/schools-and-children/ schools/going-to-school to find out more.

Travel to Work Getting to and from work can take up a large portion of your day, so it s important to find a mode that suits you. Walking If you live within 3km of work, walking to work will take you less than 45 minutes, and is a perfect opportunity for fitting exercise into your day, blowing away the cobwebs and saving money. Cycling Cycling is a low-impact exercise, and research has shown that cycling can improve levels of concentration and alertness, more so than driving, as cycling releases endorphins which boost your energy levels. You ll avoid the costs of running a car fuel, insurance, maintenance and more and you might decide that cycling means you no longer need a gym membership. If you would like to cycle to work, check with your employer whether they operate a cycle to work scheme. This is a government initiative which allows you to spread the cost of a bike and equipment over 12 months, and there are associated savings on tax and national insurance payments. Public Transport Walking to a bus stop or rail station helps you feel happier and sleep better. It can also help you lose weight and improve your fitness. Find out if you can commute by public transport at planner.wymetro.com/lts/ Castleford rail station and bus station are both accessible by the 188 bus towards Wakefield from the turning circle 3 minutes from Riverbank Meadows, or you can cycle there in 20 minutes. From Castleford rail station, there is one train per hour to Wakefield, Knottingley, Barnsley and Sheffield, and two trains per hour to Leeds. Some employers offer loans to help employees spread the cost of annual season tickets for public transport. This allows you to benefit from the savings offered when buying an annual ticket, without having to come up with all the money at once. Driving Commuters can save an average of 900 a year by car sharing. Join www.wycarshare. com or use the Lift Share app to find someone to share with so that you can save on the cost and divide the responsibility of driving. You could also ask you employer if they run their own car share scheme. 22 23