Our Plans for Improving Local Cycling Networks
Last month we presented our aspirations for a borough-wide cycling network and now we want your input. Over recent months we have been openly critical of the lack of a cohesive plan. We have seen development proposals for cycle routes that have shown a lack of connectivity to other planned and current cycle routes.
Committee member, Chris Knight presented Kirklees Active Travel Partnership (KATP) with a draft proposal for an area-wide network encompassing existing and planned routes which was well received by council officers. KATP includes officers from the Transport team at Kirklees, councillors from all the major political parties (although the Labour representative and cabinet member responsible for transport and active travel Cllr Eric Firth has not attended in the past year). It also includes Sustrans, CyclingUK, and British Cycling but not local delivery organisations like Street Bikes, EPIKS and Ride Kirklees.
Kirklees Council has a Local Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plan (LCWIP) and has been working on it for several years. Currently it is limited to cycling and walking on the Wakefield Road corridor, Huddersfield, where we await the implementation of plans for reallocation of road space to accommodate cycling and walking.
LCWIP2 is in development across the West Yorkshire Combined Authority and includes only 5 core cycling routes in each local authority. Our proposals for a Kirklees Cycle Network would see all major towns and villages in Kirklees linked through separated cycle tracks and low traffic ‘quiet streets’ with cross-border routes also planned. An aspirational full network plan would allow the council to take advantage of funding opportunities currently missed, update street furniture along with maintenance, and assist with planning new developments.
We will be requesting that Kirklees either develops a similar phased plan for a cycling network or adopts a plan developed by Cycle Kirklees but first we are coming to you, our supporters, to ask for your opinions and local knowledge. The map (link below) shows the current and planned routes already developed by Kirklees Council along with our developed and rudimentary alignments.
Can you add detail to our rudimentary alignment, do you know of a reason why other planned routes would not be possible, or do you have ideas for other routes we have not included?