Wheel-y good news: £4.6 million boost to improve walking and cycling
West of England Mayor Dan Norris today welcomed £4.6 million secured for the region to improve cycling and walking routes.
Active Travel England (ATE) has awarded the cash boost as part of new funding to build happier, healthier and greener places across the country.
I’m delighted that people across the West of England will benefit from a further £4.6 million investment in making cycling and walking safer and easier. This is the new normal for our region, after a huge 62% in grant funding secured for the coming year means a record £380 million budget for my Mayoral Combined Authority. It’s wheel-y good news!
Dan Norris, the Mayor of the West of England
Better cycle paths and pavements will mean people have more choices when it comes to getting from A to B and are more likely to leave their cars at home. These improvements will also help to cut congestion in the West’s towns and cities, boosting our environment and our economy.
The West of England Mayoral Combined Authority is reviewing potential projects. The money will be invested in walking, cycling, and wheeling route improvements and pedestrian crossing upgrades, as well as cycle training sessions and bike loan schemes.
Previous rounds of ATE funding in the region were invested in making part of Cotham Hill pedestrian-only in 2023, new bus stops and footways on Upper Bristol Hill, and building new segregated cycle paths in Old Market last year.
Other ATE-funded projects currently in construction in the West of England include wider footpaths and new crossings in Kingswood Town Centre, and better cycle lanes and pedestrian crossings on Park Row and Upper Maudlin Street in Bristol.
This funding follows the record cash boost for the West of England in December 2024, which saw £6.7 million for the region to fix and prevent potholes on our roads, as well as the two-thirds of a billion pounds secured by Mayor Dan Norris through the City Region Sustainable Transport Settlement – the most per-person anywhere in the country.
Press release by West of England Mayoral Combined Authority.
