Boosting walking, wheeling and cycling in York

Plans to create new and improved walking, wheelchair-use, wheeling and cycling facilities across York will be considered by senior councillors this week.

At the meeting on 12 December the council’s Executive will be asked to approve the first Local Walking and Cycling Infrastructure Plan (LCWIP) for the city.

The plan proposes aspirational strategic networks for walking, wheelchair-use, wheeling and cycling and sets out the top priorities for the coming months and years.  The prioritised lists will be used to put together funding bids as and when opportunities arise, and to inform the council’s priorities for maintaining and improving highways and pavements.

The main aim of the LCWIP is to boost active travel opportunities for residents and visitors, and to complement the recently approved Local Transport Strategy and its Implementation Plan. City of York Council will work with communities to identify the best locations for trial projects in a village, a neighbourhood and along a major radial route to install improved facilities and infrastructure to significantly increase sustainable travel.

Councillor Kate Ravilious, Executive Member for Transport said: “In Our Big Transport Conversation, people told us that more and better walking and cycling infrastructure would help them to walk, wheel or cycle more.

“This plan is all about making walking, wheeling and cycling safer, more accessible and simpler in York and to better connect routes across the city so more people can choose to travel this way. It puts us in prime position to bid for external funding to deliver ambitious projects across York to further boost active travel. And we’ll also be using this plan to prioritise improvements and repairs to cycle routes and pavements during our routine highway maintenance programme.

“We are getting on with delivering against the recently approved Local Transport strategy. Our commitment is to make York a healthier, more sustainable and better-connected city and the aspirational active travel networks in this plan will help us to achieve that. We know that as well as the significant health benefits, more people walking and cycling will also help take the pressure of our road network which means that everyone wins.”