Work starts as £100m package looks to improve cycle safety

Work has started on more than 40 schemes as part of a £100m investment to improve the safety of cyclists at motorway junctions and on major ‘A roads’.

Highways England is delivering 200 projects across the country over the next five years after the government set up a fund for cycling in its Road Investment Strategy.

The schemes will provide new cycling facilities which are intended to be safe, separate from traffic and available to use by cyclists of all abilities.

Andrew Jones, transport minister, said: “Our investment in cycling infrastructure will make cycling safer and ultimately cut congestion on the roads.

“Highways England is well on the way to delivering £100m worth of improvements to cycling facilities around major roads over the next five years.

“This important work is part of a transformational programme to make travelling by bike a more attractive option – great news for cyclists and motorists.”

The first phase of the cycling programme will see cycle lanes and crossings created or improved at nine motorway junctions. New cycle lanes, crossings and signs will also be installed on major A roads across England.

They include improvements at 11 locations along a 2.5-mile stretch of the A12 in Lowestoft, Suffolk, to provide a high quality cycle route through the town; a new footbridge over the A27 in Kingsham in Hampshire; and new signs on a 12-mile stretch of the A590 in Cumbria.

Richard Leonard, Highways England’s cycling champion, said: “These improvements will make cycling easier around major A roads and over motorway junctions across England. They will contribute towards a connected, comfortable, attractive and high quality cycling network, suitable and safe for use by people of all ages and abilities.

“We want to provide safe, accessible and integrated cycling facilities that give people a genuine choice about whether to travel in their car, or get on a bike instead.

“If we can encourage more people to use their bikes for local journeys then this should also improve the flow of traffic for drivers travelling longer distances.”

More details about Highways England’s Cycling Strategy are available here.