Construction of a 6km cycleway through east Coventry has begun. When completed it aims to enable more people to cycle, thereby providing a boost to sustainable travel options in the region.
The segregated cycle route will allow people to safely travel by bike from the city centre to University Hospital Coventry and Warwickshire via the Binley Business Park on Harry Weston Road.
The West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA) board approved £8.6m to fund the safe Binley Cycleway. Coventry City Council and Transport for West Midlands (TfWM), which is part of the WMCA, have developed plans to deliver a cycle scheme that will form part of a wider 10km strategic East-West connection, linking with the Coundon Cycleway which is currently under construction.
It is designed to enable more people who live, work and study along this route to swap cars for bikes on local journeys – easing congestion, improving air quality and reducing journey times; ultimately benefitting all road users. WMCA added cycling more will also have health benefits for those doing so, and a healthier population will help to ease pressure on its health services.
The scheme went through two rounds of public consultation, which saw 69% of responses in favour of protected cycleways, with respondent feedback applied to the designs to deliver a scheme that residents asked for.
WMCA reported the final scheme has the potential to increase the number of daily cycle journeys taken in this area by over 400%, greatly supporting the region-wide objective of increasing cycle journeys from 1% to 5% of all journeys by 2023.
Mayor of the West Midlands, Andy Street, who chairs the WMCA board, said: “We have set out ambitious plans for a 500-mile Starley Network of safe cycle routes and this investment demonstrates our commitment to delivering that vision.
“As safety is a key barrier preventing more people cycling along some of our busier roads, we know we need new, safe cycleways to convince more people to leave the car at home. The Binley Cycleway is a wonderful example of this in action and work is under way right now to get this delivered.
“Given our #WM2041 plans to help tackle the climate emergency, we have to convince more people to use active travel to cut air pollution.”
