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This piece is from Southampton City Council in their own words.
Southampton City Council launched a ten year strategy in 2017 to transform the cycling experience in Southampton. Two years later, we’re delighted to report that we have made significant progress across the network, accelerated by a series of successful funding bids to central government.
This has seen an investment of £2.4m in new cycleways with plans for a further £8.3m for projects completing by April 2020 alone.
The first full route to open on the Southampton Cycle Network (SCN) is the SCN1 Western Cycle Freeway. The SCN1 is a safe, high quality cycle route that will take you from Totton to Southampton in under 30 minutes. There was a 20% increase in the average number of daily users on this route (as taken from a counter on Millbrook West) in July 2019 compared to the same period last year. A cycle counter on the Redbridge Road section registered an average of almost 1000 people a day cycling over it in July 2019.
Cllr Jacqui Rayment, Cabinet Member for Transport & Place at Southampton City Council, said:
“A key pledge in our Green City Charter is to promote, encourage and incentivise sustainable and active travel. That’s exactly what we’re doing as we build the Southampton Cycle Network. The transport team are doing a great job of making the case for investment in Southampton on the national stage to make this happen at pace and we’re already hearing positive reports from people cycling on these new and improved routes.
“Please bear with us as we continue this important work over the coming months. As usual we will be doing everything we can to minimise disruption including working nights and off-peak where possible. We launched a new website earlier this year to keep people updated on the work we are doing to transform our transport system. Make sure you visit transport.southampton.gov.uk and sign up to get the latest news on works taking place near you.”
Progress on the Southampton Cycle Network
Work is underway now and progressing well on the SCN8 at Swaythling Arch which will improve connections between Eastleigh, the Airport, and the University of Southampton. The SCN2 and SCN3 around Bitterne (Quayside Road and along Bursledon Road) are also being improved.
Southampton’s first Copenhagen style cycle lanes are now open on the SCN5 either side of Inner Avenue between London Road and Lodge Road. Further work is planned to continue this key route all the way to Chandler’s Ford.
Working with Hampshire County Council through the Transforming Cities Fund
The network doesn’t stop at Southampton’s borders. Commuters and visitors cycling from Chandler’s Ford will benefit from Hampshire County Council’s work to extend the SCN5 and create a two kilometre, three metre wide off–road shared use cycle/footway along Hut Hill, linking Chandlers Ford with Chilworth.
This project is funded by a joint bid from Southampton City Council and Hampshire County Council to the Department for Transport's Transforming Cities Fund. This first found of funding secured was £5.7m and is being invested in new and improved cycle freeways and on new technology to make bus journey times more reliable.
Now we are putting together our case for a share of the total £1.2bn available to twelve shortlisted areas of the UK. Our goal is to transform the way people get in and around Southampton to secure a sustainable and successful future for everyone living and working in the area. We will submit the final joint bid to the Department for Transport this November and we expect a final decision on funding by the Spring of 2020.
Councillor Rob Humby, Deputy Leader of Hampshire County Council and Executive Member of Economy, Transport and Environment, added: "By working closely with our partners at Southampton City Council we have been able to successfully bid for Government funding to improve cycling, walking and public transport routes, encouraging more people, where possible, to leave their cars at home. Simple actions such as walking to school, car-sharing or switching off idling car engines will contribute significantly to better air quality for all of us and help reduce carbon emissions."
Visit our My Journey website and use the hand journey planner to find the best way to get in and around Southampton. There is also advice and support to get cycling and walking more in the city.
Cycle September
My Journey has teamed up with Love to Ride to help more people cycle in Southampton. Love to Ride is a global web and app based platform that encourages people to cycle through a series of rewards based challenges across the year. Throughout September, My Journey and Love to Ride are running Cycle September, a fun free challenge that invites individuals and workplaces to see who can earn the most points for cycling and encouraging others throughout the month. Individuals can take part by registering to Love to Ride and logging a ride of ten minutes or more to be entered into a range of prize draws. This year’s prizes include a holiday, bikes, vouchers, cycling gear and much more.
Find out more at lovetoride.net/southampton