City council secures £2.6million to create further safe cycle routes

City cyclists will benefit from even more space to travel after the council secured a further £2.6million in Government funding.

City of Wolverhampton Council was successful in a bid under the fourth round of the Government’s Active Travel Fund (ATF) and is using the money to develop an extended cycle pathway.

The new route will run from Chapel Ash to Broad Street. It will extend the existing pathway which runs between Waterloo Road and the crossing near Molineux, and will link into cycle routes on the Wednesfield Road, Stafford Road, Molineux Alley, the city centre via North Street, and West Park.  

The scheme has been completely funded by Government under the fourth round of its Active Travel Fund. The bid for the funding was put forward by the West Midlands Combined Authority in partnership with the council.

The extended route will add to other options for walking and cycling in the city, including a high-quality dedicated cycling route which runs along the A4124 Wednesfield Road.

This route, which is already partly built, begins at Lock Street, continues past the nearby University of Wolverhampton Springfield Campus, and ends at Lincoln Street where it joins an existing cycle path. 

Further development will see the path continue out to Wednesfield Way where it will join an existing cycle route leading to New Cross Hospital, Bentley Bridge and towards Wednesfield Village, offering additional opportunities for residents to access key work and leisure sites by bike.

Councillor Craig Collingswood, cabinet member for city environment and climate change, said: “We are very pleased to have secured this funding which will help us as we continue to extend our offer of a safe, high-quality city-wide cycling network.

“We hope this work will help more people to adopt active lifestyles which will help their health and wellbeing, as well as reduce congestion, carbon emissions, air pollution and noise.

“As a city we are committed to improving our infrastructure for more sustainable transport and reducing carbon emissions. These cycle schemes will help us to achieve that aim.”  

This is the region’s fourth allocation from the Active Travel Fund (ATF). Transport for West Midlands, which is part of the West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA), has previously secured grants totalling almost £34 million since 2020 which has been used to implement a wide range of safe cycle and walking schemes including bike parking, safe cycle lanes and provide cycle training for communities.

The new schemes will form part of the emerging Starley Network.