It's one year since Sustrans' Connect2 won the TV vote to bring £50million from the Big Lottery Fund to 79 communities across the UK to create networks for everyday journeys for people travelling by foot or bike.
On Tuesday 3rd February, the project to connect Nantwich to Crewe via a rural promenade set back from the busy A530 became a step closer as sustainable transport charity Sustrans and its Connect2 partners at Cheshire Council sign the paperwork that will guide the development for the coming years.
This agreement, a Memorandum of Understanding, confirms partners continued commitment to the project and pledges £400,000 from Sustrans' Connect2 lottery award to complete the link between the towns and the network of paths reaching into local communities.
This quiet 4-mile greenway will provide an attractive alternative to the narrow path running along the busy main road and accident black-spot currently linking the towns.
Work will begin in Crewe before the end of the year before linking residential areas, through and around open spaces - such as the popular Queen's Park - and onto schools.
In Nantwich, the scheme will create a bike and pedestrian friendly crossing of the bypass before taking walkers and cyclists via Barony Public Park to the riverside path.
The entire network of paths on traffic-free and quiet roads should be completed by the end of 2011 and will enable more than 55,000 people living within a mile of the scheme to walk or cycle more for daily journeys to the benefit of both their health and the environment.
County Councillor Eveleigh Moore Dutton, Executive Member for Highways and Transportation for Cheshire says: "I am delighted that we have now secured the funding for this very important project.
This project will provide an essential link for walkers and cyclists alike and will help us try and minimise the impact of car traffic in the area."
Sustrans' Regional Director, Peter Foster says: "We're delighted to be making this significant step towards connecting communities on either side of this busy road to a network of walking and cycling paths. In this era of growing concerns about the health of individuals and our environment, enabling more journeys to be made by foot and bike can only benefit our community."
This scheme has been made possible through the enormous popular support for Sustrans' Connect2 - as voted for by the public in the UK's largest lottery competition last December.
The anticipated cost of the Crewe and Nantwich connection is £1.4million, with £400,000 coming from the Big Lottery Fund as part of Sustrans Connect2.
The lottery award will be added to locally sourced match-funding to transform local travel in 79 communities throughout the UK - changing the lives of six million people who live within a mile of a scheme. Over the next five years, nearly £30 million will be invested annually to create these local walking and cycling networks from Devon to Perthshire.
Source: Sustrans
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A step closer to Crewe's dedicated walking and cycling network
