Two new cycle routes to be built in Wolverhampton thanks to £1 million fund
Two new cycle routes will be built along major roads in Wolverhampton next year after the council secured more than £1 million in government funding.
Wolverhampton Council recently found out it was successful in a bid for just over £1 million of the Active Travel Fund.
West Midlands Combined Authority put in a bid on behalf of all councils in the area and was awarded £13.7 million by the Department of Transport.
Wolverhampton’s share of the money will enable a new pathway for the exclusive use of cyclists and walkers to be built through the central reservation along the entire length of Ring Road St Peters.
Traffic lights will enable users of the new path to safely cross over the busy Waterloo Road junction onto Ring Road St Andrews and continue their journey down to Chapel Ash Island via the existing path, which will receive an upgrade.
A second scheme will see the creation of a continuous cycle route along the A4124 Wednesfield Road from Culwell St junction, to link up with existing provision on Wednesfield Way.
Consultation
This will improve safe connectivity to a range of destinations for cyclists including Wednesfield village centre, New Cross Hospital, Bentley Bridge Retail Park and Springfield Campus.
Detailed designs for both schemes are currently being drawn up and the council intends to launch a public consultation in January, with a view to starting the Ring Road route in early spring and the first phase of the Wednesfield Road route in early autumn 2021.
Councillor Steve Evans, cabinet member for city environment, said: “We will create two brand new cycle routes which will both connect to our existing network, meaning cyclists will have more options to encourage this healthy, clean and green form of transport.
“The new route through Ring Road St Peter’s will enable cyclists and walkers to be isolated away from other traffic, it will link up to the new toucan crossing we’ve created across the Ring Road and to the existing route along Ring Road St Andrews, which will get an upgrade, and down to the other routes at Chapel Ash.
“Existing car lanes will be unaffected by the scheme because we'll be creating a new lane for cyclists.
“The Wednesfield Road scheme will provide a safe passage for cyclists along this busy road from the city centre connecting to the existing provision at Wednesfield Way.
“As a city we are committed to improving our infrastructure for more sustainable transport and these two schemes will complement the work we did over the summer using funding from the first phase of the active travel fund including the creation of a toucan crossing for walkers and cyclists across the Ring Road.”
