Preparation work to start on first of two new cycle routes for city’s main roads

Preparation work will start this month for the first of two new cycle routes which are being created after City of Wolverhampton Council secured Government funding.The council was successful in a bid for just over £1m from the Active Travel Fund and will use the money to develop the two new routes – on the city’s ring road and along Wednesfield Road.The first will see a new pathway for the exclusive use of cyclists and walkers built through the central reservation along the entire length of Ring Road St Peters.Traffic lights will enable users of the new path to safely cross over the busy Waterloo Road junction onto Ring Road St Andrews and continue their journey down to Chapel Ash Island via the existing path, which will receive an upgrade under the works.Initial works to create the pathway will begin on Monday July 26 on Waterloo Road at its junction of St Andrews and St Peters to install a crossing for pedestrians and cyclists and upgrade the existing traffic signals.The work will take place during the night and is due to be completed by mid to late August.The signal junction will be switched off on Friday 13th August at 8pm and switched back on Monday 16th August. During this time, four-way temporary signals will be in operation and while lane closures will be required, they will be minimised to reduce delays.The work is the first step in delivering a traffic-free route for pedestrians and cyclists from the junction of Stafford Street/A4150 (Ring Road) to Chapel Ash Roundabout.Work on a second scheme is due to start in the early autumn and will see the creation of a continuous cycle route along the A4124 Wednesfield Road from Culwell St junction to link up with existing provision on Wednesfield Way.This will improve connectivity to a range of destinations for cyclists including Wednesfield village centre, New Cross Hospital, Bentley Bridge Retail Park and Springfield Campus.Funding for the schemes was awarded after West Midlands Combined Authority put in a bid on behalf of all councils in the area and was awarded £13.7m by the Department of Transport.