Agenda item

Report of the Director of Transportation and Highways

The Cabinet Member for City Services considered a report of the Director of Transportation and Highways that sought approval for the construction of a Cycletrack along Allard Way between Binley Road and Second Avenue, an extension of the Binley cycleway.

Binley Cycleway was a 6km long segregated cycleway that would connect the City Centre with University Hospital Coventry and Warwickshire once completed. It was a regional priority cycle route forming part of the Starley Network, the West Midlands’ network of planned walking and cycling routes.

In May 2023, Active Travel England (ATE), an executive agency of the Department for Transport, announced funding allocations from the Active Travel Fund. £550,000 of this was to create a spur off Binley Cycleway with a segregated cycleway along Allard Way between Binley Road and Second Avenue, and to improve the crossing of Second Avenue. This would connect multiple neighbourhoods including Stoke Aldermoor and Ernesford Grange to Binley Cycleway and the destinations along it. The scheme was fully funded with capital grants from the West Midlands Combined Authority and the Government.

In January 2023, Coventry was asked to submit bids for funding from the Active Travel fund Tranche 4. To be successful, any scheme would have to be able to be implemented within a short timeframe, score highly on ATE’s Cycling Level of Service tool, and meet objectives of supporting safety of women, create an uplift in people cycling and walking, and improve access opportunities to jobs and services from areas of multiple deprivation.

The council submitted a bid for a link to connect the Binley Cycleway, which was at the time under construction at that location, from Binley Road along Allard Way to Second Avenue, with a new cycle crossing facility at Second Avenue. There was an existing shared use footway/cycleway from Second Avenue to Yew Close in Stoke Aldermoor, and to Ashdown Close in Ernesford Grange. This scheme filled the missing link for safe cycling by connecting these two neighbourhoods to Binley Cycleway and therefore all destinations served by it.

The design of this cycleway continued on from the recently constructed Binley Cycleway and Coundon Cycleway with a step-change in the quality of cycling infrastructure in Coventry. It would provide a physically separated space within the highway protected from motor traffic and away from pedestrians. It would be safe, coherent, direct, comfortable, and attractive, which were the core design principles for high quality cycling infrastructure required to enable people to switch modes and cycle for some journeys. The scheme design met the standards set out in the latest guidance from the Department for Transport.

RESOLVED that the Cabinet Member for City Services:

1)  Approves the scheme design and the construction of the Cycletrack along Allard Way between Binley Road and Second Avenue to be fully funded by grant from the Active Travel Fund tranche 4.

2)  Where necessary, to undertake the necessary procurement required to facilitate the construction of the Cycletrack along Allard Way between Binley Road and Second Avenue.

3)  Delegate authority to the Director of Transportation and Highways, following consultation with the Chief Legal Officer, to undertake all actions necessary to bring into effect the recommendations contained in this report.