Peterborough green wheel and footbridge get active travel mi££ions
Peterborough residents, visitors, and green tourists alike are set to benefit from a big package of active travel funding awarded today by the Cambridgeshire & Peterborough Combined Authority Board for the Peterborough Green Wheel and a Fletton Quays footbridge.
The Fletton Quays and Embankment areas of Peterborough have been identified as plum opportunity sites by the Peterborough City Centre Development Framework. Fletton Quays includes over 350 riverside apartments, office space, a hotel and restaurant, plus leisure and retail opportunities.
In a unanimous vote, the Combined Authority Board approved the proposal to draw down £750,000 of Active Travel funding from its medium-term financial plan for improvements to the Peterborough Green Wheel cycle route, plus a feasibility study.
The Green Wheel cycleway is a signed route around the outskirts of Peterborough, with ‘spokes’ leading from the city centre to the rim of the ‘wheel’. It comprises both on and off-road sections and is over 45 miles long. The first stretches were opened in 2000 and, while it is firstly a leisure route, some parts will lend themselves to commuting.
The Green Wheel contains designated stretches of the National Cycle Network (Routes 12, 53 and 63) and its ‘spokes’ not only provide links out from central Peterborough but also shorter routes ideal for cycling first-timers or for family groups.
Board members also unanimously backed the proposal to draw down £3,427,800 of Active Travel money to fund the full business case and the physical construction of a new pedestrian footbridge linking Fletton Quays and the Embankment area in Peterborough – subject to the Government’s Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities approving Peterborough’s bid for support from the Towns Fund.
A key component of the Towns Fund for Peterborough is the masterplan for the Embankment and £2 million of match funding for the design and construction of this additional River Nene crossing to improve walking and bicycling routes between the north and south of the city.
The current pedestrian and cycle links between the two sites, and the City Centre are inadequate, with poor infrastructure alongside busy city centre roads.
The new footbridge will provide a safe, direct link plugging into the ‘Green Wheel’ and helping create a more connected active travel network, which can help towards the target of cutting car use in Cambridgeshire and Peterborough by 20%.
Mayor of Cambridgeshire & Peterborough Dr Nik Johnson said:
“It’s vital that the imaginative redevelopment of both the Embankment and Fletton Quays areas is supported by joined-up walking and cycling routes which can encourage and accommodate greater demand – improving public health and fitness and helping to bring down car journeys.
“Many people have reduced mobility and this footbridge, linking up with the Green Wheel, will not only make Peterborough easier and more pleasant to walk and cycle around but help to improve accessibility”.
Peterborough City Council will deliver all phases of the projects, including design, construction, and site supervision.
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