Signs are clear in Cramlington
13 Feb 2020 ARCHIVED (over 3 months old) - view latest news
Finding your way around Cramlington’s network of paths and cycleways is set to become a whole lot easier.
New signs, crossing improvements and information boards are going up around the town encouraging more people to make use of the 12-miles of routes on the traffic-free network which criss-crosses the area.
The scheme came about after the county council commissioned walking and cycling charity Sustrans to carry out an audit into sustainable travel in the town. A lack of signage across town was identified as one of the reasons the cycleways weren’t better used.
Funding from the council’s Local Transport Plan has led to the scheme being developed. The project involved identifying the most usable routes to connect homes to schools, local shops, public transport and the town centre.
A “tubemap”, similar to the London Underground plan, outlines eight routes that radiate from the town centre, which will be waymarked on the ground with new signs.
There will be signed routes across 100 locations, 158 signage bollards, 11 information boards and 12 new dropped kerbs installed to make crossing roads easier and safer. The work also involves clearing around 250m of vegetation which had become overgrown.
Councillor Cath Homer, Cabinet Member for Culture, Arts, Leisure and Tourism, said: “Staying fit and healthy isn’t all about joining a sports club or going to the gym. Walking or cycling can be just as effective and it’s certainly cheaper.
“Cramlington is blessed with a great network of cycleways but it’s not always been easy up till now to work out where paths lead or the easiest way to get between two points.
“This is a really clever scheme which links up homes, schools, shops and public transport options and we hope will encourage lots more people to make use of these free facilities on their doorstep.”
Town Mayor of Cramlington Loraine De Simone said: "Promoting our walking and cycling routes is great for children and adults alike. Cramlington is leading the way on developing this in the county."
Construction is well underway and is due to be completed by the end of next month.