Have your say on future walking and cycling routes

Residents are being asked for their views to help improve walking and cycling routes across Bridgend County Borough.

The council wants to discover where new routes are required, as well as identifying existing ones that need to be upgraded.

The findings of the public consultation, which runs until the end of January 2021, will be used in the ongoing process of designing and constructing active travel routes.

Plans for future routes will be published in a new active travel network map, which will be resubmitted to Welsh Government in December 2021.

Active travel means walking or cycling for everyday short-distance journeys. It covers trips to school, shops, work, services and transport hubs. It can also include the use of electric wheelchairs or mobility scooters.

The routes, as set out by Welsh Government, focus primarily on settlements with a population of more than 2,000. For Bridgend, the maps will cover Bettws, Bridgend, Maesteg, Ogmore Vale, Pencoed, Pontycymer, Porthcawl and Pyle.

The aim of the active travel network is to allow walking and cycling to become the most natural and normal way of getting about for local journeys.

By doing so, this promotes health and well-being and helps to make our towns and villages more liveable places.

Please get involved in the consultation and help to shape these routes for the future. We want to know your views on the existing infrastructure and find out where you experience difficulties when walking or cycling and what would you like to see in the future.

Cabinet member for communities Richard Young

After the initial consultation, a draft network map will be drawn up, with residents being invited to share their thoughts on the plans before a final statutory consultation is held into the proposed active travel network map later in 2021. After this, the network map will be submitted to Welsh Government for approval.

Visit the online mapping portal to have your say or for more information about active travel routes, visit the council’s webpage.

In July, Bridgend County Borough Council received a £3m grant from Welsh Government to improve cycle ways and footpaths, including almost £2.6m for a package of work along the planned active travel route between Bridgend and Pencoed College.

Work is set to begin on the active travel route that will link Pencoed with Pencoed College on Monday, January 4. This will link to the existing network that goes through Pencoed on Felindre Road and Coychurch Road, through Coychurch, across Coychurch Roundabout and into Bridgend Industrial Estate.