Cycling banned on stretch of cycle network

A new cycle route through Peterborough City Centre is being designed - as the National Cycle Network takes riders along Bridge Street - where cycling is banned.

The National Cycle Network is a series of paths and routes to encourage people to get on their bike and ride safely.

However, Route 12 on the network passes from London to Spalding, including through Peterborough city centre along Bridge Street and Long Causeway.

Thanks to a Public Space Protection Order (PSPO) cycling is currently banned on Bridge Street from 9am until 6pm, seven days a week.

Anyone caught cycling in the area between the times faces an £80 fine - and court action if the fine is not paid.

More than 1,000 people were fined for ‘unauthorised cycling’ in Peterborough city centre since the PSPO was introduced in June last year.

A spokesman for sustainable transport charity Sustrans said work was ongoing to try and re-direct the route to make it clearer for cyclists - and provide a route through the city centre.

He said: “We are speaking to the city council about diverting National Cycle Network Route 12 (NCN12), due to the increased contention around the Bridge Street Cycle Ban – the aim of the Nation- al Cycle Network is to provide safe, coherent and continuous routes for cyclists, linking towns and cities across the UK.

“NCN12 currently enters the city from the Embankment and then onto Lower Bridge Street; we are considering whether a peak-time diversion to go from the Embankment, past the Lido, across the new crossing at Bishops Road and then around the back of the Cathedral could be a suitable alternative.”

Signs on lampposts advertising NCN12 on Bridge Street have now been removed while the plans are being discussed.

A spokesman for Peterborough City Council confirmed discussions were ongoing.

He said: “We can confirm that we’re working with Sustrans to either sign a different route during the day, or see whether further signage can be put up to make it clearer when you can and can’t cycle along Bridge Street.”

Details of the National Cycle Network are available at www.sustrans.org.uk/ncn/ map

Cycling is banned on Bridge Street for part of the day