Big Cash Injection For English Cycling

The coalition government has responded to Labour digs that cycling has become more dangerous since they have been in power by announcing a huge £94 million cash injection to promote cycling.
The sport is experiencing something of a renaissance as a result of Olympic and Paralympic medal success, and the two British triumphs in the prestigious Tour De France. This resurgence in interest is not just confined to those taking up the sport seriously, but also an increasing number of pleasure riders.

Young cyclists of the future

Now this splendid sum of money is to be distributed between Manchester, Leeds, Birmingham, Newcastle, Bristol, Cambridge, Oxford and Norwich who will share £77m, with four national parks getting a further £17m.

The money is to be used to improve existing routes and provide funding for new ones. The government says it also wants to cut down on the red tape in order to facilitate easier cyclist-friendly planning.

The Prime Minister, David Cameron, is a driving force behind this initiative, wanting to kick start “a cycling revolution”. "Following our success in the Olympics, the Paralympics and the Tour de France, British cycling is riding high - now we want to see cycling soar," he said.

"This government wants to make it easier and safer for people who already cycle as well as encouraging far more people to take it up and business, local government, developers, road users and the transport sector all have a role to play in helping to achieve this."

At £20 million, Manchester will receive the lion’s share, so that it can build or improve some 30 miles of cycle paths and create new 20mph speed limit zones around the city.

The four national parks that will receive funds are the New Forest, Peak District, South Downs and Dartmoor.  Major improvements to 93 miles of cycle routes on Dartmoor are anticipated. The government has also announced a feasibility study to look at creating a new national cycleway broadly following the route of the HS2 rail line from London to Birmingham, Leeds and Manchester.
Experts are concerned that it may be difficult to emulate the success story of cycling in London, where the number of cyclists has doubled over the past 10 years, according to one estimate. They say that if you move outside the city, things look a lot different, with only about 2% of journeys throughout the country as a whole being by bike.

Malcolm Shepherd, chief executive of sustainable transport charity Sustrans, however was upbeat, and welcomed the initiative. He said: "This is fantastic news for those living in the successful cities.
"Getting about by bike for everyday journeys could become a reality for people of all ages and abilities in those areas. We welcome the recognition that for the cycling revolution to become a way of life for us all this level of investment must be maintained and extended to all parts of the UK, including rural areas."

But shadow transport secretary Maria Eagle said: "No amount of cynical spin from David Cameron will make up for the fact that, immediately on taking office, he axed Cycle England, the Cycle Demonstration Towns scheme and the annual £60m budget to support cycling that he inherited. Since then he has axed targets to reduce deaths and serious injuries on our roads, reduced traffic enforcement, cut the THINK! awareness campaign and allowed longer HGVs.

"Only last month the prime minister set out plans for Britain's roads that failed to include a single commitment to the investment in separated cycling infrastructure that is the best way to boost cycling and make it safer."

She said Labour would, using the existing roads budget, deliver "long-term support for separated safe cycling routes and safer junctions".  Tragically the number of cyclist deaths are now at a five-year high, reversing the progress that was starting to be made, and reports of new casualties are becoming a weekly occurrence," she said.