Wednesday 12 August 2020

West Midlands unveils 493-mile cycle vision to supercharge active travel

The West Midlands Combined Authority has unveiled plans for the development of a 493-mile cycling network.

The creation of the routes is intended to encourage active travel, with the ambition of making them either traffic-free away from highways or within roads but separated from traffic.

Named in honour of the Starley family of Coventry industrialists who pioneered bicycle manufacturing, the new cycle infrastructure will include pop-up lanes funded through the Emergency Active Travel Fund.

The local authority decided to enhance its cycling network following a rise in the popularity of this type of transport after the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic.

Andy Street, Mayor of the West Midlands, said: “Cycling has enormous benefits, both for people’s health and the environment. The more people who cycle the more we reduce air pollution and the more we reduce the strain on our NHS through people getting fitter and healthier.

"That is why we have always been ambitious with our cycling plans and the fact we set and met a £10 funding per head target is testament to that."