Construction of the first sustainable travel route funded through BCP Council and Dorset Council’s multi-million pound Transforming Travel – Transforming Cities Fund programme gets underway on 18 January.
The new 2.3km cycle path and walking improvements in Wimborne and Colehill will form the first part of a green travel route planned to run to and from Poole town centre, Ferndown and Wimborne. The work marks the start of south east Dorset’s largest ever investment in sustainable travel infrastructure creating 78kms of new cycling and walking routes for eco-friendly, safe and healthy journeys to work, education and leisure.
The works, due to complete towards the end of 2021, include:
- a new, largely segregated 2.3km two-way cycleway along Leigh Road/Wimborne Road West between the junction with Brook Road and Canford Bottom roundabout which will provide a protected route for people on bikes
- new ‘parallel crossings’ on Leigh Road (west of Old Ham Lane and west of Hayes Lane) allowing both pedestrians and cyclists to cross the road safely. These innovative crossings will be the first of their type in the Dorset Council area
- reducing the speed limit from 40mph to 30mph (from Canford Bottom roundabout to Brook Road) to make the road safer for drivers, cyclists and pedestrians
- junction improvements along Leigh Road giving priority to people walking and cycling around the area
- additional green space and planting including new trees
“A cleaner, greener and healthier place to live, work, and visit”
Cllr Ray Bryan, Dorset Council’s Portfolio Holder for Highways, Travel and Environment, said: “We are dedicated to ensuring we can all enjoy a cleaner, greener and healthier place to live, work, and visit. Putting the needs of the community front and centre, the project aims to support safe alternatives to the car and improve the user experience for everyone. The cycleway will benefit so many local people. Parents who have children in local schools will hopefully share my enthusiasm that their children can ride their bikes and scooters safely in the knowledge that the speed limit has been reduced. Wheelchair and mobility scooter users have two new crossings across the road. The walkways and cycle routes will provide easy access to play areas, leisure facilities and common land. Those commuting to Ferndown Industrial Estate will find themselves with increased options on how to travel to their place of work.”
“First green travel route that will transform local travel”
Councillor Mike Greene, Portfolio Holder for Transport and Sustainability at BCP Council said:
“We’re really excited to see the start of construction on south east Dorset’s first green travel route that will transform local travel, particularly for short journeys. It gives people real options about how they can get out and about locally without necessarily having to use the car. Being able to walk, cycle, scoot or run to work, school or for leisure has tremendous benefits for the environment, economy and people’s health and wellbeing.”
Completing a gap in the national cycle network
The scheme also completes a gap in the national cycle network (via the Castleman Trailway) to provide a continuous, attractive network for people on bikes to key destinations. The Leigh Road section of the Transforming Travel scheme has been part-funded by Sustrans.
James Cleeton, Sustrans director for the south of England said: “It’s great to see this project coming to fruition which will provide a safe, sustainable transport link between residential areas, employment, schools and leisure facilities.
Tackling the climate emergency by changing the way we travel
“We need to make changes to the way we travel if we are to tackle the climate emergency, and make our towns happy and healthy places for everyone. By providing real alternatives to private cars, Dorset Council and BCP Council are taking important steps to doing this.”
To reduce disruption, the scheme will be delivered in sections up to 400m long. Traffic will be managed with a mix of traffic lights and stop/go boards. Roads will remain open in both directions.
We will seek to limit road closures to take place overnight where possible. The public are advised to plan journeys ahead and to note the new speed limit of 30mph.
Residents, local businesses and anyone who uses the route can keep up to date with the progress of the scheme in several ways:
- dorsetcouncil.gov.uk/leigh-road-scheme
- dorsetcouncil.gov.uk/travel
- @TravelDorset on twitter
- Signing up to the Transforming Travel’s TCF e-newsletter for regular updates
Transforming Cities Fund
The route is being funded through the Transforming Cities Fund and local contributions. BCP Council and Dorset Council secured £79 million through the Department for Transport’s Transforming Cities Fund (TCF) in March 2020. Local contributions from both councils, developers, bus companies and bike share operators has created a total programme value for south east Dorset of £102 million.
BCP Council and Dorset Councils are working in partnership with Public Health Dorset, More Bus, Yellow Buses, Beryl Bikes, Cycling UK, Sustrans, Bournemouth University and Arts University Bournemouth to deliver this extensive programme from 2020 to 2023.
Transforming Travel Programme
Dorset Council and BCP Council were one of 12 city regions in England to secure a share of the government’s Transforming Cities Fund based on its commitment to driving economic growth through investment in public sustainable transport. It forms a major part of the region’s Transforming Travel programme promoting changes in the way people travel. For further information go to www.transformingtravel.info
This all sounds excellent, as long as cyclists use the new facilities. It makes me very angry when driving along Ham Lane and cyclists will not use the cycle paths. There’s no room for overtaking, so selfish cyclists mean that drivers have to go round them, endangering people coming the other way. I wish it could be made compulsory for cyclists to use cycle tracks.
Great news. This is an excellent and much needed facility.
What a total waste of money !!!
Why don’t we improve the by pass and the stupid
roundabout at Canford bottom ???
What a total waste of money !!!
Why don’t we spend it on improving the by pass
and the stupid roundabout at Canford Bottom ?
The graphic immediately above the heading ‘completing the gap in the national cycle network’ clearly shows a cyclist riding in the pedestrian section and not in the cycle path. Is this to be permitted? Will the reverse also be expected- ie pedestrians to walk at will in the cycle lane? What measures are proposed to protect pedestrians from cyclists?
Hi.
Very nice to see improvements for cycle lanes in BCP/Dorset! However, new cycle lanes should be designed to the latest LTN 1/20 standards which include the following principal:
“Cycles must be treated as vehicles and not as
pedestrians. On urban streets, cyclists must be
physically separated from pedestrians and
should not share space with pedestrians.
Where cycle routes cross pavements, a
physically segregated track should always
be provided. At crossings and junctions,
cyclists should not share the space used by
pedestrians but should be provided with a
separate parallel route. ”
It is very disappointing to see planners in BCP and Dorset continuing to use shared use pedestrian cyclist paths around “difficult” junctions and where space becomes limited. It is not good enough. If the aim is to have a “gear change” in the number of cyclists that use these facilities, then these shared use areas will become crowded and dangerous very quickly and will need to be replaced. It is better obviously to do this at the initial planning stage rather than retrofit.
In summary then – Please no more shared use paths as part of the wider cycle network!
Thank you.
Given the huge waste of money spent on the cycle way from Canford Bottom towards Haskins I have serious doubts on the viability of Leigh Road . The Castle Lane similar project looks good but is hardly used . Sadly these projects are nothing more than political points scoring .
The Leader of Dorset Council has admitted Social Services are in financial crises but they manage to provide vital excellent services but are so limited by funding . When will the Government and in this case Dorset Council try and prioritise in favour of vital services and not fancy nice to have vanity schemes .
A complete waste of public money and totally unnecessary. There appears to be no provision or consideration for the passage of emergency vehicles. Traffic lanes will, no doubt become gridlocked, particularly during peak times and buses at stops will bring traffic flow to a standstill.
What does awaiting moderation mean ???
That’s good news, missing link between Poole and Ringwood via the Castleman Trail,
It would be helpful if you clarified the route from Brook Road to the Willett Arms. I presume it is via Leigh Park, Station Road and Oakley Hill. Is this correct, or are further improvements planned?
Great news but when will a sustainable route be included between Corfe Mullen and anywhere else? The Wareham Road route to Wimborne is positively dangerous – Julians Bridge is very hazardous for pedestrians and cyclists. The speed limit on these roads should be considerably reduced. Corfe Mullen is growing fast and the lack of road planning is a real concern.
Hi Ed. Thanks for your comments. There are several routes earmarked for investment from the TCF, you can check them out at transformingtravel.info. Best wishes, Alex.
1. The Ham Lane cycle way itself is great but the additional junctions on it that cyclists are forced to use are not and spit you out on to a fast road. If we want cyclists to use the lanes we need to make the junctions convenient and safe.
2. To challenge the conventional wisdom, just because someone is in a car does not make their journey more important. Driving at the speed limit is not an entitlement.
3. Reducing traffic speed is a great way to tackle emissions.
Many thanks for an excellent plan. I am very impressed.
Looking through the transport aims, please don’t forget that we can’t all cycle, walk or run and it is very important to provide for electric vehicles that can be run on renewable energy. In Dorset there are many retired people who would benefit from this.
As a cyclist who tries to always use cycle lanes, I feel that it is a total waste of money. Cyclists seldom use the lanes but clog up the now narrower roads. If they/we had to use them by law, then it would be an improvement.
Funds would have been better spent creating a tunnel for the bypass at the appalling Canford Bottom roundabout, thereby freeing up the flow of local traffic. Why is the cycle lane at Canford Bottom so wide? There’s hardly enough room left for vehicles to pass each other. The amount of use these cycle lanes will get doesn’t justify the money spent and the disruption caused during the construction. Not a fan.
With the completion of the Saxonbury and Quarter Jack Park housing estates, a new junior school and Wimborne Town FC’s new ground, the only real future for Leigh Road-Wimborne Road West is more cars. It is already a busy trunk road providing access for heavy vehicles to the Industrial Estate and Waste Disposal site in Brook Road and Waitrose and Co-Op supermarkets in Wimborne.
The idea that this road can be transformed into an environmental paradise for cyclists, pedestrians, and wheel-chair users is pure fantasy and an irresponsible waste of public money desperately needed for improvement of the health and social care services.
The thing that would benefit walkers more would be to enforce house holds to keep their hedges cut back. Wimborne road east Ferndown being a culprit, less than half the pavement is available to actually walk on in some places and when it is wet the trees droop and the hedges soak you as you go by. This is not the only road In Ferndown in this state, time for a tidy up