Cycle lane plan to preserve old bridges and rail tracks

HISTORIC bridges and railway lines earmarked for infilling or demolition will be saved under new plans to turn them into cycle routes, it has emerged.

The Government is pausing the destruction of former railway lines and bridges in the hope they can be repurposed, in an attempt to get more people walking and cycling rather than travelling by car.

The Summer of Cycling and Walking strategy, to be published today by Grant Shapps, the Transport Secretary, is supported by a £338 million budget to improve infrastructure across the UK.

Highways England has caused outrage by filling in Victorian railway bridges around the country with concrete, rather than repairing and maintaining them.

Earlier this month, a 159-year-old bridge in Great Musgrave, Cumbria, had its arch filled with 1,000 tons of concrete, angering civil engineering groups and bridge restoration experts who said it could have been saved with just £5,000 of repairs. The Labour peer Lord Faulkner said the eyesore operation was “cultural vandalism”, while campaigners warned 100 other sites are at risk of the same treatment.

Some councils have demanded that Highways England secures planning permission to alter the bridges, in the hope the requests can be denied.

But today’s announcement means all infilling and demolition operations, except for those at sites which pose an imminent risk to public safety, will now be paused.

One such site, a 13-mile stretch of disused railway line near Bristol, has become popular with cyclists and tourists since it was converted in to a pathway in the Eighties.

The strategy document will say the Government plans to “establish a formalised framework and engagement process for these structures to understand, in each case, whether there is a realistic prospect of it being used for active travel or other transport purposes in future”.

Officials will then “ensure that the views of local stakeholders, including active travel groups and the local authority, are fully taken into account”.

Mr Shapps said: “Millions of us have found over the past year how cycling and walking are great ways to stay fit, ease congestion on the roads and do your bit for the environment.

“As we build back greener from the pandemic, we’re determined to keep that trend going by making active travel easier and safer for everyone.

“This £338 million package marks the start of what promises to be a great summer of cycling and walking, enabling more people to make those sustainable travel choices that make our air cleaner and cities greener.”