Cyclists are flying high

Airport bike route opens

G l a s g ow Ai r p o r t ’ s £280,000 cycle route has been officially opened on the same day bosses were handed an award from Cycling Scotland.

Renfrewshire North and West MSP Derek Mackay helped get the path up and running.

He said: “I am delighted to have been asked to perform the official opening and also congratulate the airport on their Cycle Friendly Employer Award.

“The Scottish Government is committed to building an Active Nation and have doubled the level of investment in walking and cycling to £80 million. Providing the infrastructure and increasing changes in behaviour is the biggest part of that aim.

“Facilities such as this one will help those who want to leave the car at home and walk or cycle to work with the infrastructure to do so.”

The route was developed and delivered in a partnership between Glasgow Airport and Renfrewshire Council, with funding support from the Scottish Government through Sustrans Scotland’s Community Links grant programme.

Now complete, the project includes a new and improved 2.5km route through the airport campus, which links Inchinnan Road with Barnsford Road and provides connectivity support to City Deal proposals for the Glasgow Airport Investment Area including walking and cycling routes.

The route also complements the council’s proposals to connect Barnsford Road to Bishopton and plays a key role in connecting elements of ambitious cycling proposals contained in the local authority’s own cycling strategy.

A key element of the project, which also includes new post, ground and bollard signage, was the surfacing of a 1.5km section of the cycling route through the Paisley Moss nature reserve, which runs adjacent to the airport’s runway.

This section has been upgraded from a muddy path to a cyclingstandard bound surface providing fantastic views of the airfield users can enjoy all year round.

During the official opening, representatives from Glasgow Airport received the Cycle Friendly Employer Award f rom Cy c l i n g S c o t l a n d development officer Caroline Hammond. This nationallyrecognised award acknowledges an employer’s commitment to encourage and facilitate healthy and sustainable access to work, ensuring appropriate safe access routes, cycle parking, changing facilities and promotion.

Mark Johnston, Glasgow Airport managing director, said: “As one of the largest employers in the Renfrewshire area, it is important that we provide the near-5,000 people who work at the airport with attractive, sustainable transport options.

“Almost 50 per cent of the people who work across the campus live within a four-mile radius of the airport, while more than 25 per cent live within two miles.

“Providing a sustainable and healthy alternative to encourage people to swap four wheels in favour of two makes sense and we are seeing the benefits already with a steady increase in the number of airport staff cycling to work since the route was developed. The opening of the route itself, promotion of cycling activities and provision of c ycle parking bays has culminated in the award of Cycle Friendly Employer Award from Cycling Scotland, which we feel is incredibly important for any major employer.”

It is important we provide people who work here with sustainable transport options Mark Johnston