£10m for county will fund ‘a new golden age of walking and biking’
A £10M investment will make it easier for people to cycle and walk round Yorkshire and improve the region’s air quality, the Government has announced.
The new Government agency Active Travel England has been tasked with using £161m to deliver 134 projects that aim to improve travel for pedestrians and cyclists outside London.
Projects planned for Yorkshire include new cycle paths and improved footpaths in Sheffield and additional parking for bicycles in York city centre.
West Yorkshire has been promised two new active travel neighbourhoods, in Bradford and Calderdale, where several roads will be closed to cars and cycle paths will be constructed on busy highways.
Active Travel England has also announced that Hull, Sheffield and West Yorkshire will receive a share of £1.5m for “mini-Holland” feasibility studies, to see whether they could become as pedestrian and cycle-friendly as their Dutch equivalents.
Active Travel Commissioner Chris Boardman said: “This is all about enabling people to leave their cars at home and enjoy local journeys on foot or by bike.
“Active Travel England is going to make sure high-quality spaces for cycling, wheeling and walking are delivered across all parts of England, creating better streets, a happier school run and healthier, more pleasant journeys to work and the shops.”
Transport minister Trudy Harrison said: “This multi-millionpound investment will ensure people right across the country can access cheap, healthy and zero-emission travel.
“Active Travel England will be working hard to create a new golden age of walking and cycling, enabling everyone to reap the benefits of a more active lifestyle, creating streets where children can play and making nicer places to live.”
The £161m investment, which will benefit 46 local authorities outside London, is part of a £2bn fund for walking and cycling, which was announced by Prime Minister Boris Johnson in 2020.
He also set an ambitious target of ensuring half of all journeys in British towns and cities are by bike or on foot by 2030.
Around £35m will be invested in improving the quality, safety and accessibility of a UK-wide network of paths and routes for walking, which is known as the National Cycle Network.
Xavier Brice, chief executive of the Leeds-based charity Sustrans, which works to improve walking and cycling infrastructure, said: “As custodians of the National Cycle Network, we’re delighted that the Government is continuing to invest in these vital and much-loved walking, wheeling and cycling routes.
“This funding will see improvements made to the Network in England, connecting cities, towns and the countryside, making walking, wheeling and cycling a safer, more convenient and more accessible travel option for everyone.”
Another £8m has been invested in a scheme that allows people to borrow electric bicycles for free.
The scheme, which will provide people with the bikes for up to three months, is being piloted in five areas.
It was launched in Greater Manchester this week and will then be rolled out in Sheffield, Hull, Leicester and Luton and Dunstable by the end of July.
The latest Government data shows the average person in England cycled 88 miles in 2020, spent 12 minutes cycling each week and made just 3 per cent of all their trips by bike.
This will ensure people can access cheap and healthy travel. Transport minister Trudy Harrison.