Richard has welcomed the announcement of a £338 million package to boost cycling and walking across the country, making active travel safer and easier for everyone. It comes after last year saw cycling rise more than in the previous 20 years put together, with the number of miles cycled on British roads rocketing by 45.7% to 5 billion.
The government's 'Summer of Cycling and Walking' campaign includes infrastructure upgrades, changes to The Highway Code and new requirements to ensure that active travel schemes’ effects are properly assessed.
As the UK prepares to host COP26 later this year, these initiatives will play a key role in the government’s drive to build back greener from the pandemic and achieve net zero emissions by 2050.
The £338 million is a 30% increase to the £257 million announced for active travel in last year’s spending review. This funding will help see the construction of hundreds of miles of new high-quality cycle lanes and aid the delivery of new schemes to encourage walking. This will include the delivery of improvements across the National Cycle Network. And to enhance safety for cyclists and pedestrians, a new version of the Highway Code will be published next year, with updates including:
- a hierarchy of road users that ensures road users who can do the greatest harm have the greatest responsibility to reduce the danger they may pose to others
- strengthened pedestrian priority on pavements and when crossing or waiting to cross the road
- guidance on safe passing distances and speeds and ensuring that cyclists have priority at junctions when travelling straight ahead
Welcoming the news, Richard Fuller, MP for North East Bedfordshire, said:
Over the past year, millions of people have recognised the benefits of cycling and walking to stay fit and travel to work – and the government is determined to keep that trend going. That is why it is investing £338 million to deliver more high-quality cycle lanes and schemes to promote walking, so we can encourage more people to make sustainable choices.
This package will enable more people to make those sustainable travel choices that make our air cleaner.
