£1.7m ‘Active Travel’ improvements to make walking and cycling more practical

Over £1.7m has been awarded by Welsh Government to Bridgend County Borough Council to fund more Active Travel schemes which will make it easier for residents to leave their cars at home for local journeys.

The biggest single allocation of £500,000 will see the construction of an off-road route for pedestrians and cyclists along Coychurch Road in Pencoed to complete the missing active travel link between Coychurch and Pencoed Comprehensive School. Work on the scheme starts in late October and will be completed before the end of March 2019.

In Porthcawl, £450,000 will be spent on extending the active travel route along the Eastern Promenade from Coney Beach so it that it continues through to Newton Primary School along New Road. The scheme will involve some of the road humps on New Road being replaced, while the school will also benefit from new cycle and scooter storage. The work is due to begin by early December and will take approximately four months to complete.

Local residents will have already noticed work that is underway to create a new wide footway along the A48 to connect Brynteg Comprehensive School with Picton Court. The £290,000 scheme is due for completion by the end of March 2019.

A further £150,000 has also been allocated by Welsh Government through their Local Transport Fund programme to fund the next phase of work to complete the National Cycle Network Route 885 link between Sarn and Bridgend by improving access to the railway station.    

The enhancements will include the footway from Bridgend Bus Station to Derwen Road being widened to enable use by cyclists and pedestrians, while signage will also be improved. The work will be carried out between January and March 2019.

The remaining funding received by Bridgend County Borough Council will also cover the design and feasibility costs of a further eight Active Travel schemes:

• A route along Cowbridge Road which links to Bridgend College, South Wales Police Headquarters, Bridgend Retail Park and Bridgend Industrial Estate.
• An off-road route for pedestrians and cyclists between Bridgend town centre and the Designer Outlet Village at Junction 36 along the A4061, with connections to Brackla, Princess of Wales Hospital, Parc Derwen and Litchard as well as Brackla and Litchard Industrial Estate.
• An off-road route between Llangynwyd and Maesteg School via Garth with links to Garth Primary School.
• Improved walking and cycling access between Pencoed railway station and Pencoed Technology Park to encourage active commuting.
• Improvements between Newton Primary School and Newton village, which will build upon the other scheme being delivered this year and may include additional links to Porthcawl town centre.
• An extension of the existing off-road route which runs south from Broadlands to Newbridge Fields along the A48. The proposed route will connect along the A48 to Merthyr Mawr Road and will also link up through the fields to Bridgend Life Centre with onward connections to Brynteg Comprehensive School.
• The Ogmore Valley Community Route will also be assessed to identify potential enhancements that are required.

We are grateful to the Welsh Government for their ongoing financial support to encourage Active Travel in Bridgend County Borough. These schemes will make it possible for more people to leave their cars at home and choose a healthier, greener form of travel for shorter everyday journeys as part of their daily routine.

The four schemes that we have received funding to create were all well supported by local residents who took part in our public consultation last year, while we’re excited to start design work on a further eight schemes which residents have told us would make Active Travel a more practical option.

Active Travel improvements take time, energy and money, but we’re proud that an extensive network of safe cycling and walking routes is coming together in Bridgend County Borough.

Councillor Richard Young, Bridgend County Borough Council’s Cabinet Member for Communities