Council to prioritise maintenance of minor road network used by cyclists
Posted: 19 Jul 2020, 8:37am
Is this a first?
A county highways authority (Devon) has announced that the majority of its additional government funding for road maintenance will be spent on the minor rural roads used by cyclists.
https://www.devonlive.com/news/devon-news/strava-used-identify-popular-devon-4308999
'Strava is set to be used by Devon County Council to decide where some of the additional £27m of spending on Devon’s roads will be allocated.
'The £58m total is the largest ever annual investment in Devon’s Road Network, with smaller and unclassified roads receiving the majority of the extra cash.
'And the extra spending will go towards roads that are used by cyclists or walkers...
'" the funding will be invaluable in enabling high-usage routes to be safe, properly maintained, and appropriate for active travel, like walking or cycling. We need to ensure the shift in active travel is underpinned in well maintained services and routes.”...
'Meg Booth, chief officer for highways.... said that "in proportion, Devon didn’t have that many [segregated] cycle ways and that a lot of active travel takes place on the more rural roads. We are making a huge investment in the non-classified roads and that is where the majority of cycling at the moment happens... . The focus is on the rural network that is used by cyclists,” adding that the council was working with Strava to get data on roads that are popular with cyclists.'
Amid all the fuss over pop-up cycle lanes, etc, a little puff of positive fresh air here. (Only a little puff, as the sums involved are hardly game-changing - but it's the attitude which is significant). And whatever you may think of Stravamania, using Strava data is surely a step up from car-conditioned highways officers simply making assumptions about which roads are important to cyclists.
A county highways authority (Devon) has announced that the majority of its additional government funding for road maintenance will be spent on the minor rural roads used by cyclists.
https://www.devonlive.com/news/devon-news/strava-used-identify-popular-devon-4308999
'Strava is set to be used by Devon County Council to decide where some of the additional £27m of spending on Devon’s roads will be allocated.
'The £58m total is the largest ever annual investment in Devon’s Road Network, with smaller and unclassified roads receiving the majority of the extra cash.
'And the extra spending will go towards roads that are used by cyclists or walkers...
'" the funding will be invaluable in enabling high-usage routes to be safe, properly maintained, and appropriate for active travel, like walking or cycling. We need to ensure the shift in active travel is underpinned in well maintained services and routes.”...
'Meg Booth, chief officer for highways.... said that "in proportion, Devon didn’t have that many [segregated] cycle ways and that a lot of active travel takes place on the more rural roads. We are making a huge investment in the non-classified roads and that is where the majority of cycling at the moment happens... . The focus is on the rural network that is used by cyclists,” adding that the council was working with Strava to get data on roads that are popular with cyclists.'
Amid all the fuss over pop-up cycle lanes, etc, a little puff of positive fresh air here. (Only a little puff, as the sums involved are hardly game-changing - but it's the attitude which is significant). And whatever you may think of Stravamania, using Strava data is surely a step up from car-conditioned highways officers simply making assumptions about which roads are important to cyclists.