ABOUT £1 million of transport funding for Denbighshire has been secured in the aftermath of the coronavirus outbreak.

As people begin to return to town centres, Denbighshire County Council has received support from the Local Sustainable Transport Covid Response Fund to provide improved access for pedestrians and cyclists.

The £981,000 in Welsh Government Funding will be used for projects in Rhyl, Llangollen, Ruthin and Denbigh, as well as outside schools throughout the county.

Projects include the reallocation of road space for pedestrians and cyclists by introducing one-way systems and making spaces outside schools safer for social distancing and reducing the number of car journeys outside schools.

Cllr Brian Jones, Lead Member for Waste, Transport and the Environment, said: “The coronavirus pandemic has led to unprecedented changes that are affecting all aspects of our lives, including transport.

“We welcome this funding from the Welsh Government which will help provide a number of schemes throughout Denbighshire.

“The Council has been looking at how we can safely reopen our town centres for visitors and this includes making sure there is space for people to adhere to social distancing and to offer alternative forms of transport by making walking and cycling easier.

“We have a number of plans for the county and we will be seeking feedback from members of the public following their introduction. We will also be carrying out extensive monitoring of the projects we implement in order to fully assess their effectiveness.

The lockdown period has seen increases in the numbers of people walking and cycling and many of the measures proposed will further encourage people to choose these modes of transport by providing measures such as wider pavements.

These projects form part of the overall work that the Council is undertaking in town centres to ensure social distancing guidelines are met.

This will include signage to remind people to maintain social distance, working with retailers to facilitate the management of queues for their shops, minor works to remove or relocate non-essential street furniture, pedestrian one way systems where considered necessary, enhanced cleaning regimes and amendments to parking areas.

Cllr Jones added: “By making our town centres more accessible for active travel we can help support the county’s businesses, improve air quality in our towns, help protect the environment and improve the health of our residents.”