£25,000 cycle path extension wins approval
By Jo Deeks on Thursday, 22nd November 2001.
PLANS for a £25,000 extension to the cycle path along the Railway Walk in Haverhill have been approved by councillors.
Members of St Edmundsbury Borough Council’s Transport and Works Committee agreed that the path should be extended eastwards between Manor Road and Chalkstone Way.
They decided that the plan should be amended to make separate provision for cyclists and pedestrians, so that the final detailed scheme is likely to cost slightly more.
A report to the committee said the current path was on poor condition and gave rise to regular criticism. Changes to it would include widening and re-surfacing, as well as re-establishing lighting to improve security.
Around 40 people attended a recent consultation plan about the proposed extension and two objections had been raised on the grounds of cost.
New development at the Manor Road end of the path is likely to increase its use, as well as industrial development of land between Bumpstead Road and the by-pass.
Improvements to the path would be beneficial both as a utility and a leisure route and the funding will come from Suffolk County Council’s Local Transport Action Plan allocation for Haverhill.
Coun Phillip French proposed amendment calling for pedestrians and cyclists to be separated as he felt pedestrians were at risk on the current path.
Although he was delighted to welcome the extension to the cycle path, Coun French asked that arrangements be made for annual maintenance of the path, not the ad hoc system operated at present.
Coun French has raised protests in the past about the fact that part of the existing cycle path was so obscured by undergrowth that only half of it was passable.
Members of St Edmundsbury Borough Council’s Transport and Works Committee agreed that the path should be extended eastwards between Manor Road and Chalkstone Way.
They decided that the plan should be amended to make separate provision for cyclists and pedestrians, so that the final detailed scheme is likely to cost slightly more.
A report to the committee said the current path was on poor condition and gave rise to regular criticism. Changes to it would include widening and re-surfacing, as well as re-establishing lighting to improve security.
Around 40 people attended a recent consultation plan about the proposed extension and two objections had been raised on the grounds of cost.
New development at the Manor Road end of the path is likely to increase its use, as well as industrial development of land between Bumpstead Road and the by-pass.
Improvements to the path would be beneficial both as a utility and a leisure route and the funding will come from Suffolk County Council’s Local Transport Action Plan allocation for Haverhill.
Coun Phillip French proposed amendment calling for pedestrians and cyclists to be separated as he felt pedestrians were at risk on the current path.
Although he was delighted to welcome the extension to the cycle path, Coun French asked that arrangements be made for annual maintenance of the path, not the ad hoc system operated at present.
Coun French has raised protests in the past about the fact that part of the existing cycle path was so obscured by undergrowth that only half of it was passable.
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