Support road.cc

Like this site? Help us to make it better.

Sustrans announces major review of National Cycle Network

Issues to be addressed include identifying new routes as well as missing links in existing network

Sustrans has announced that it is to undertake a major review of the National Cycle Network (NCN), which it develops and maintains.

The Bristol-based sustainable transport charity says that as part of the review, it will explore potential new routes for people on foot and bike as well as identifying missing links in the existing network.

It also plans to draw up a new, long-term strategy regarding the network’s future governance, funding, maintenance, promotion and mapping, as well as calling on national and local government to invest in and develop new and existing routes.

According to Sustrans, each year some 5 million people use the NCN which covers more than 16,000 miles across the length and breadth of the UK.

The charity’s CEO, Xavier Brice, commented: “Much of the existing National Cycle Network was designed to standards that have since been changed and improved.

“With this review, we want to further build on the success of the NCN and achieve a network of safe, fully accessible and high quality routes and paths.

“We hope this will make walking and cycling easier for everyone, regardless of their age and abilities, and inspire a new generation to get on their bikes.”

Sustrans says that the NCN saves the NHS £550 million annually through promoting a healthier population and is also worth £650 million each year to local communities it passes through, supporting 15,000 jobs.

Brice continued: “Walking and cycling can hugely benefit public health and wellbeing, boost local economies and create greener local environments.

“The NCN plays a large role in achieving this, as it encourages active commuting and a healthy lifestyle, and contributes to economic growth.

“This is a reminder that governments at all levels need to prioritise dedicated and consistent investment for existing walking and cycling routes that will serve communities across the UK and generations for years to come.”

The review, which is due to be published in September, is being carried out in partnership with national and devolved governments and other organisations, including the Canal & River Trust whose research and impact unit manager, Richard Rutter, underlined the importance of the NCN as part of its towpath network.

“The Canal & River Trust currently hosts 500 miles of the National Cycle Network on our towpaths,” he explained.

“We are delighted to support the Review to understand how our 200-year-old towpaths, which already attract over 400 million visits each year and which are on the doorstep of 8 million people, can attract even more people and help to deliver even greater wellbeing benefits in our fast paced world.”

The Department for Transport, which is currently holding a consultation into its review of cycle safety, said: “We want cycling to become a natural choice of transport for people of all ages and backgrounds.

“We are determined to make cycling and walking safer and easier across the country, and that’s why we have provided £83,900 towards the cost of this important review of the National Cycle Network which should lead to future upgrades for the families, commuters and tourists who use it every year.”

Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.

Add new comment

23 comments

Avatar
HowardR | 5 years ago
1 like

Re: "That looks like heaven to me..."

It is if that's what you’re looking for - and - I spend a lot of my time seeking & enjoying tracks such as that.

What it's not is a piece day-to-day infrastructure that would encourage many people to use it in their daily commute/performance of chores.

Avatar
slow_going | 5 years ago
2 likes

 

'National Cycle Network Route 2', Studland, Dorset.

I often see tourists from The Netherlands round these parts in the summer and think to myself 'what must they think...?'

 

Avatar
HowardR replied to slow_going | 5 years ago
0 likes

slow_going wrote:

 

'National Cycle Network Route 2', Studland, Dorset.

I often see tourists from The Netherlands round these parts in the summer and think to myself 'what must they think...?'

 

Many thanks for that Slow_Going - A picture that goes to illustrate the whole sorry state of the NCN.

Avatar
kil0ran replied to slow_going | 5 years ago
1 like

slow_going wrote:

 

'National Cycle Network Route 2', Studland, Dorset.

I often see tourists from The Netherlands round these parts in the summer and think to myself 'what must they think...?'

 

That looks like heaven to me...

 

Avatar
jollygoodvelo | 5 years ago
3 likes

As others have said - they need to work out what they're doing.  Are they building a set of cycle-priority routes around the country which you could genuinely, seriously use as an inter-town transport option?  Or are they primarily building some nice paths in the countryside for people to take their toddlers for a ride on their trikes and dogs for a walk on.

I'd suggest that if it's the second, it's valuable but it's not 'transport', and calling them the 'NCN' is very wrong, so it has to be the first!

I rode the Bristol to Bath path for the first time the other day and almost had to pinch myself.  Wide, flattish, acceptably surfaced, and crucially, goes between places you might want to be, rather than just a random place in the country and then back.  Even with loads of kids and families on a sunny afternoon it's a great route, and you don't mind 'sharing' because these are future cyclists.  Compare that to parts of the NCN1 on the canal near Broxbourne where you're on the access road to a campsite with potholes you could take a swim in, or the huge proportion of NCN routes that are just on roads.  I know you can't tarmac every path, but if they even worked with the C&RT to ensure all canal towpaths were actually passable, wouldn't that be a start?  It's a ready made network, no need to cannibalise farmers' fields... 

Avatar
joules1975 | 5 years ago
0 likes

The problem Sustrans has is the name of the NCN.

Firstly, the C.

In places the NCN is clearly built for cyclists - it takes you miles from anywhere such that travel by anything other that a bike is pointless as otherwise you won't cover enough ground to get where it leads in anything like a sensible amount of time.

In other places it is clearly designed with walking in mind, as the stretches are too short and or too full of pedestrians to be useful as family cycle routes and don't provide any time or pleasure benefit for 'cyclists' or cycle commuters.

Then there is the issue of expectation. Cycing encompasess such a broad spectrum of paticipants that it's impossible to please everyone.

And this then brings into question the N's, because for a lot of places it's only really a network when viewed on a map, which means that calling it National starts to fall down too.

The other major problem is that the NCN still relies on pretty basic and slightly gorilla tactic esque things such as the stick on route markers as shown in the photo, adding to the sense that it's somewhat half hearted. That was fine at the start, but a couple of decades on it should be well beyond that.

Personally I think the NCN has done an excellent job of helping Sustrans get to where it is, and to help raise the importance of good routes, but it's now being overtaken in that regard by other better (but still far from perfect) and certainly higher profile infrastructure such as the CS developments in London (some of which Sustrans is involved with in the background, some not).

Sustrans is far more than the NCN, and has been for some time, but for a lot of the cycling community, it's all it's known for, which is a shame.

Avatar
velodaz replied to joules1975 | 5 years ago
0 likes

joules1975 wrote:

The problem Sustrans has is the name of the NCN.

Firstly, the C.

 

I believe the C stands for Cycle-Cross!!  3

That's what it seems like round here, anyway!

Avatar
bobbypuk | 5 years ago
0 likes

I live in Reading and pretty much refuse to use the NCN round here. Difficult to know which is my favourite bit. There's the route to newbury which when it leaves the canal transfers onto muddy singletrack through a forest (usually 6 inches of churned up mud). Or maybe its the bit from West to East across the town centre which goes through a shopping centre, passing between restaurants and their outside seating. I tried to follow the NCN route to London once, after what seemed like 25 miles I reached Maidenhead 10 miles away. That should be a commuter route but is so circuitous that I don't know anybody that would use it and it certainly isn't pleasant enough to be a lesiure route.

Sustrans and the NCN is purely a box ticking exercise and I suspect now that Sustrans exist mainly to keep themselves in jobs.

Avatar
smcc1879 | 5 years ago
0 likes

How about they review volunteering?

I spoke to someone at Easter about volunteering on NCN6 (Northampton). A form with my details for their checks & complaince was completed and e-mailed to them. Since then, now't. Don't they want volunteers?

Avatar
NPlus1Bikelights | 5 years ago
1 like

They really do stretch what they label as a route, too many pavements & car parks. If you do remove their horrendous and non-uniform barriers for trailers & mobility vehicles you'll get bored youths on mopeds and low cc motorbikes every night and then the path surfaces will be even more unrideable. I don't think anything not leg/ 1-horse powered should be on them, they can't cope with it as they aren't maintained. 

Avatar
spen | 5 years ago
2 likes

How to improve the NCN in one easy step - remove Sustrans from it.

Avatar
Bill H | 5 years ago
2 likes

Is the review intended to improve the NCN or to source new funds for the continued employment of those paid Sustrans staff (as opposed to the many volunteers)?

If it is for improving the network then surely deciding which parts of the NCN are for utility and which are for leisure would be a start.

We can measure their success in improving a leisure route by the sales of maps, footfall at the local tourist sights, takings at cafes and pubs etc. By their nature these routes can meandering and while not ideal we can tolerate a crappy surface if no one is using it from November to March.

Conversely utility routes need to be direct and with all-weather surfaces. Usage numbers are not so important as it is offering a viable choice that counts. A great surface that goes two miles out of my way isn't going to get me off the road on the way to work (the return trip is another matter).

Avatar
technone | 5 years ago
2 likes

I can deal with pedestrians on the NCN most of the time, I can't deal with their pooches. I exploded at a couple whose dog stepped in front of my bike 5 times in a row yesterday. "Just effing leash it". I know it's a shared path, they know it's a shared path, dogs don't.

Avatar
bigdanbro | 5 years ago
1 like

The photograph heading this article is particulary apposite as route 5 - from Didcot to Oxford is an absolute horror. Badly signposted, circuitous route (especially around Didcot power station and the 'scenic' detour through the nearby industrial estate en route to the train station), and much of it prone to flooding. I seem to recall from the last time that I tried it that the surface from Radley to central Abingdon was sufficient to nearly rattle apart my otherwise very sturdy steel tourer, and I'm pretty sure there was one bit where it takes you against the flow of traffic on a narrow one way street in the aforementioned Abingdon (though that may just have been down to me getting lost - see above point about signposting).

Apologies for the rant - on paper it should suit my commute very nicely, but in practice it's unusable so I go for the road option (along with being shouted at by the occasional motorist). On a more upbeat note I should add that I think Sustrans are great, the NCN is very welcome, and I wish them every success in their endeavour. 

Avatar
Prosper0 | 5 years ago
3 likes

Good. 

 

Basic standards, standards, standards is what they need.

Sustrans has done great things with a tiny budget but I want to go on the NCN expecting basic things: a quality smooth sealed surface, no stupid barriers, protected lanes on main roads. 

Thats all. 

Avatar
oldstrath | 5 years ago
3 likes

I wish they'd just admit that most of the NCN is unfit for commutimg, and devote their efforts to lobbying for real infrastructure rather than building joke tracks out of loose gravel.

Avatar
Yorkshire wallet replied to oldstrath | 5 years ago
1 like

oldstrath wrote:

I wish they'd just admit that most of the NCN is unfit for commutimg, and devote their efforts to lobbying for real infrastructure rather than building joke tracks out of loose gravel.

 

But.....GRAVEL BIKES! 650B! 

BUY BUY BUY!!!

Avatar
Yorkshire wallet | 5 years ago
3 likes

Best thing Sustrans could do is make them 'cyclists have priority'. I have the option of using a stretch but I never do as it's slower due the surface and that's before you factor in stupid gates and twats with dogs on leads or not. Add in joggers with earphones and it's not worth my while, I'll take my chances with cars. 

Avatar
Grahamd | 5 years ago
1 like

Not ambitious enough. They need to have some empowerment to link up existing routes, where necessary being able to issue compulsory purchase orders when required; and having sufficient clout to force local authorities to make changes to the road network other than a ubiquitous inadequate white line.

Avatar
kil0ran | 5 years ago
3 likes

A further vote for removing all access barriers to the network. Transitions from network to public highway and vice versa should never require a dismount. Proper ongoing maintenance funding, particularly cutting back trees/bushes also required. 

Avatar
Deeferdonk | 5 years ago
7 likes

Suggest use of surfaces that allow practical commuting whatever the weather (Not loose stone or pulverized flyash) and removing steelwork barriers so that all cycles and cyclists can easily access them.

Avatar
nappe | 5 years ago
1 like

I've often wondered what the 'trans' in sustrans stands for, the wardens appear to spend quite a lot of time picking up after dog walkers. Where did the dog walkers go before these routes were built.

My local greenways are only usable for a decent commute first thing in the morning, and even then it's difficult.

Avatar
rogermerriman | 5 years ago
6 likes

To be honest most of it, seems to be leisure routes, ie old railways, and the like, rather than commuting/transport as such.  And clearly dog walking.

 

This said removing barriers so trailers and such can pass, my Mum can't get that far with her E-bike as the barrier would require her to stand the bike on its rear wheel to pass, even in other places getting a bike though is a tad awkward I get that they don't want motorbikes, but even so.

Latest Comments