£3m boost to improve cycle routes on busy roads

Highways England has teamed up with charity Sustrans to deliver a £3 million boost to encourage more people to get cycling.

To help cyclists and walkers navigate its road network the company is working closely with Sustrans to help provide safer crossings and connect cycle schemes on England’s busiest roads with the charity’s 16,505 mile National Cycle Network.

This network criss-crosses the country, linking villages, towns and cities - and with 4.4 million people using it every year for commuting and leisure, the partnership will benefit cyclists up and down the country

Highways England Head of Road Safety Richard Leonard said: "We want to make cycling and walking safer and easier – not merely locally, but across the country as a whole.

"The National Cycle Network is a great initiative, and this project is a great example of how people can be encouraged to cycle and walk more – with obvious benefits to their health, safety and the wider environment.

"The Department for Transport also recently awarded £1 million in funding to support projects repairing and upgrading sections of this popular network. Our overall plans to increase cycling and walking are set out in the 2017 Cycling and Walking Investment Strategy."

Sustrans have identified a long list of opportunities and will be working together with Highways England to create a shortlist of schemes which can be quickly taken forward.

Some 200 schemes, worth £100m, will be on the ground by 2020/21. Over the past three years, 80 schemes have been built and a further 30 are due to be completed by spring 2019.

Highways England published its Cycling and Accessibility Strategy in 2016, and has recently published an annual report detailing the progress made so far. This includes integrating cycling and accessibility needs in the early stages of scheme design and working closely with key stakeholders to deliver schemes which suit the needs of communities..
Designated funds

Highways England is working to achieve a target to deliver 150 cycling schemes by the end of Road Investment Period (2015-2020), and 200 cycling schemes by 2020/21 after the government set up the £100 million dedicated fund for cycling in its Road Investment Strategy. This £100 million fund forms part of the £250 million designated fund for Cycling, Safety and Integration.