£500k to be spent improving Peterborough’s Green Wheel cycling route

The authority has signalled its intention to go ahead with the works on the 45 mile cycle route which runs around Peterborough’s perimeter.

The route uses a mixture of traffic-free paths, quiet roads and urban cycle lanes, but cyclists have complained that it has been allowed to fall into a poor state.

The programme of work are set to include: resurfacing and installing/altering cycle friendly barriers, signage and dropped kerbs.

Full details of the improvements are still being worked on, but the council said the works, which are being funded from developer contributions, will be based on factors including: improving areas of high use first, promoting routes that can be both leisure and commuter routes and improvements which have the greatest impact on safety.

The scheme at the Green Wheel is the latest attempt to boost cycling in Peterborough after it saw a rise in popularity during the current coronavirus pandemic.

The Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority has allocated more than £780,000 to the council - which it received from the Department for Transport - to spend on promoting methods of travel which relieve the burden on public transport.

The first phase of the funding totalling more than £150,000 is being spent on promoting cycling in and around the city centre and closing roads outside schools to encourage walking and cycling.

The second tranche of money is due to be released later this summer, although details of how this will be spent will not be finalised until the council receives further guidance from the Department for Transport.

However, the future works will be contracted to the authority’s highways partner Skanska which has also been given the responsibility to improve the Green Wheel.

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