Snippets from the Cycle Liaison Group Meeting held at County Hall
Matlock.
Sustrans was represented at the meeting by Volunteer Rangers from Derby
and Chesterfield as well as Dave Clasby. The meeting itself was very
informative. From our perspective, snippets of interest that I gleaned were as
follows:-
Great Northern Greenway - The Broomfield section plan is in
preparation and if all goes well, construction should start by the end of March
2013.
Little Eaton Greenway - Rail acquisition is in progress.
Erewash Valley Trail - improvements in the trail near the LM Marina
will start shortly and be completed by year end.
Blackwell to Alfreton planned route, part of which is
alongside a railway, is awaiting the completion of Opencaste mining.
White Peak Loop - Jim Seymour, who chaired this meeting, is also
the chair of the White Peak Loop steering group. He told us that the preferred
route between the top of the MT and Buxton was via Woo Dale & Wye Dale but
they were getting objections from Natural England who saw this as
"urbanisation" of the sensitive landscape. Alternative routes are
being looked at but are not easy, a prelim. report is in preparation.
Cycle Safety Fund – As stated by Clyde on an earlier Blog, all
Highway Authorities have received a letter from Government announcing a £15m
capital fund to improve cycle safety at junctions identified as having a high
incident of cyclists being killed or serious injury. Long Eaton is one of the
areas being targeted for improvements in our area since there have been 26 cycle
related collisions in the past 5 years. DCC have drawn up plans to provide a
continuous “on highway” cycle lane and associated safety features on the A6005
between the Nottinghamshire border and Wilsthorpe Rd. roundabout and a radical
change to the junction of the A6005 and Tamworth Rd. (The Green) which will
involve the removal of the traffic island and replace with Traffic Signals
together with cycle specific infrastructure.
The DCC have recently submitted the plans to Sustrans, who are in the loop
for the vetting procedure
My overall impression from the meeting was that DCC and indeed the local
Councils were very much supportive of Cycling provision and Sustrans in
particular and are driving new routes with enthusiasm.
Thanks, Stuart. That was really interesting. There are some great developments on the horizon in Derbyshire, and on our patch particularly: the Breadsall Greenway (NCR672) is inching its way towards Ilkeston; the Little Eaton railway trail will link Derby to to the Ripley GW; the work at Langley Mill represents an improvement to the EVT, the first for over a year, I think; and I wonder what the open-casters will leave for us at Westhouses, when they've finished. Something substantial, I would hope, as this will form an integral part of the extension of NCR67 northwards from the Nutbrook Trail to Chesterfield.
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