Work starts on Nottingham's Cycle Super Highway

Work has started today on Nottingham’s first ‘Cycle Super Highway’ after a £6.1 million plan to improve cycling infrastructure in the East Midlands city was approved last week.

Under the project, four commuter cycle corridors will be created, with improvements also made to cycling facilities in local areas and the introduction of a greenway linking parks in the city.

It will also see improvements carried out to existing cycle routes in the city centre, although one of those, on Castle Boulevard, will be closed for the next six months after work began there on the Western Corridor Cycle Super Highway.

While the overall project is called the Nottingham Cycle City Ambition Programme, it is not funded by the Department for Transport, with the city being one of the unsuccessful bidders under the Cycle City Ambition programme in 2013.

Instead it comes from the D2N2 Local Enterprise Partnership which brings together organisations including businesses, local authorities and community groups in Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire.

Ultimately the project will result in the building of 16.4 kilometres of segregated on- and off-road cycle routes plus 7.5 kilometres of new off-road cycle paths and 1.8 kilometres of non-segregated on-road cycle lanes alongside the River Leen and in some of the city’s parks.

D2N2 chair, Peter Richardson, said: “The promotion of sustainable transport is one of D2N2’s key commitments, as can be seen by our major investment in this project.

“The Nottingham Cycle City Ambition Programme not only has the potential to make significant health improvements; reduced traffic congestion means quicker movement of goods and people, and less air pollution makes the city more attractive to live in, which both have long term economic benefits.”

Nottingham City Council’s portfolio holder for growth, jobs and transport, Councillor Nick McDonald, commented: “The start of the cycle super-highway roadworks is a really exciting development for the City. The route links up the University of Nottingham to the city centre.

“We know it will prove to be popular with commuters and leisure cyclists, and provide a real showcase to demonstrate how high we are setting our standards for Nottingham’s cycling future.”

He added: “Unfortunately, during the works, it will be necessary to introduce temporary traffic measures which will introduce localised restrictions. We will tell residents in advance when works are happening and apologise for any inconvenience that the works cause.”

You can find more information on the Nottingham Cycle City Ambition Programme here: http://transport2.nottinghamcity.gov.uk/cycle/