Pavements and cycle paths are critical infrastructure, not frills

by Michael Smith (Veshengro)

In the USA this does not seem to be understood by local, state, and federal government and the only thing that seem to count in their eyes are provisions for the motor car. But things are not much better in Britain, for instance.

Unfortunately, many pavements (sidewalks, as our American cousins would say) in Britain are in a bad state of repair as well, even though the maintenance of those is down to the local authorities, the councils. Lack of funding from central government and more cuts in the name of austerity certainly do take their toll, but some of them seem to have been lacking maintenance for a couple of decades at least and in some instance it would appear more than just a couple of decades.

As to cycle paths, their provision, in comparison to what is being done and has been done almost for ever in countries of mainland Europe, is absolutely derisory and the talk of government that it would like to encourage more people to cycle is laughable when one sees the provisions (not) made.

There is hardly, in Britain, a single cycle path that is continuous and virtually none that is actually physically separated from the motor traffic on the road, unlike a great many, if not the majority, of such paths in countries such as The Netherlands, Denmark and Germany. According to the British government, an not just the current, it is not possible to do such things in this country. It can be done, the only thing lacking is the political will to do so.

If government is truly interested in getting people out of their cars and wanting them to walk and cycle to the shops, to school, and even to work, then provisions must me made so that people can feel safe and be safe to do so. What it boils down to is that the motoring lobby hands out fat donations and facilitation payments to the governments while, obviously, the lobby of cyclists and pedestrians does not and cannot do that. Hence more and more roads are being built instead of making provisions for alternative modes of transport, by creating the necessary infrastructure. But time and again there are plans for new roads, there is money found for new roads, and so on. Cycle paths and pavements, on the other hand, when it comes to them then there is no money to be found.

As I said, the majority of cycle paths would make our continental cousins, especially in Holland, Denmark and Germany, suffer a serious laughing attack. Not only are they not physically separated from the roads; nay, often they are just short strips on the road and then that is it. At other times, where there are long stretches of cycle paths that are part of the road cyclists will have to dodge the traffic anyway as the paths are full of parked cars, or cars are actually using those parts of the road that are dedicated to cycling, thus again the cyclist either has to avoid those stretches or is actually in danger of being hit. That is no way to encourage people to take to the bike instead of the car. In fact, it has rather the opposite effect. Thus it is hardly surprising that people, illegally, cycle on the pavements as no safe provisions are being made for them.

© 2017

You are not stuck in traffic; you are traffic

by Michael Smith (Veshengro)

If you are driving and getting nowhere you are not stuck in traffic. You are traffic. Get out of the car. Cycle, walk or use public transport and you no longer are traffic and maybe things might work a little – may be even more than a little – better.

How often do we hear someone excuse themselves for being late for a meeting or whatever with: “Sorry I am late. I am/I was stuck in traffic”. Sorry, no, if you are with a car “stuck in traffic” you are not stuck in it, you are it. The traffic that is in which you say you are stuck.

The governments' answer to the “traffic problem” is ever more roads and bigger roads and wider road “to accommodate” all the traffic but no one ever stops to think that that will not actually make any difference to the “traffic problem” but will exasperate even further. The London Orbital Car Park, otherwise known as the M25 motorway, is a shining example for this. Well, not very shining, in fact.

When it was realized that more cars and trucks were on that road than it could cope with the answer by government was to make it bigger, that is to say, wider, adding another lane and guess what happened? Yes, even more gridlocks as more vehicles began using that motorway.

The problem is that Western society, in the main, is heavily motoring orientated and no serious effort is made to change this by creating, for instance, proper public transit infrastructure and especially infrastructure for cycling and walking.

While it is true that London has, for instance, created some “bike lanes” they are a joke as they are (1) not physically separated from the roads and thus the cars and trucks and (2) often have parked vehicles on them meaning that cyclists have to get into the road and endanger themselves. On top of that many of those routes end rather abruptly and the cyclist finds himself or herself again slap bang in amongst the cars. Taking a lead from what is being done for cyclist, and has been for decades, by our European neighbors is not something that is being considered or it is written off as something that is, supposedly, not possible in Britain. And that excuse we also tend to hear with regards to many other issues, be that as to waste management, or other things. Always the response is that it is not feasible in Britain. Where there is no (political) will there never is a way.

© 2015

Surgeon General's prescription for health: walkable communities

 

It's not easy to walk in much of North America; most people now live in suburbs that were designed for cars. Now the US Surgeon General, Vice Admiral Vivek H. Murthy, is calling for a change.

Walking helps people stay both physically and mentally healthy. It brings business districts to life and can help reduce air pollution. However, there are barriers to choosing even this simple form of physical activity. Many of us live in neighborhoods that can present barriers to walking. Important places, such as shops, schools, parks, or senior centers, may not be near enough to reach by walking; there may be no sidewalks; or there may be concerns about safety. Lack of time can be a barrier, as can health problems.

He is also calling for a redesign of our communities.

People should be able to walk almost anywhere. Designing communities to encourage pedestrian activity will make it safer and easier for all users, including those with mobility limitations and other disabilities. For example, streets can be designed to include sidewalks and improve traffic safety, and communities can locate residences, schools, worksites, businesses, parks, recreational facilities, and other places that people regularly use within walkable distance of each other.

Read more here.

The Surprising Side Effect of a Winter Hike

Why you really need to spend more time outside, no matter how cold it gets

Go hiking, then come home and write the Great American Novel? Spending two days hiking in the Tetons might not turn you into William Faulkner, but research published in PLoS Onesuggests that a few days in a national park may make you more creative in other ways.

The study followed 56 hikers on a four-day hike, without their laptops, cellphones, or any other technology, and the authors found that spending time communing with nature boosted the hikers' creativity by 50 percent, based on the results of a creativity test they took either before they left or toward the end of their journey.

It's all about giving your brain a break from the daily grind of technology and stress, says the study's lead author David Strayer, PhD, a professor of psychology at the University of Utah. "The human mind is heavily influenced by the environment we're in," he says. "It's not useful to become a slave to technology." Disconnecting from social media, cellphones, computers, and stress allows your prefrontal brain circuits, which are associated with creativity and higher-level thinking, to get restored.

Read more: http://www.organicgardening.com/living/the-surprising-side-effect-of-a-winter-hike

These Streets Are Made for Walking

How to restore foot traffic as a way to go

More than 4500 pedestrians (see earlier Commons magazine story) are killed by motor vehicles every year on the streets of America.  This is not an inevitable fact of modern life.  These deaths are preventable, as shown by the dramatic decline of pedestrian  fatalities (as well as bicyclists and motorists) in Sweden after they adopted the Vision Zero approach to traffic safety.

The gravest danger to walkers and bicyclists, as well as motorists, is other motorists who drive recklessly.  According to data collected by the New York City Department of Transportation from 2008-2012,“dangerous driver choices” contribute to pedestrian deaths in 70 percent of cases.  “Dangerous pedestrian choices” is responsible in 30 percent of cases and joint responsibility in 17 percent of cases.

As the old saying goes, speed kills.  Two landmark studies, one from the US and one from the UK, found that pedestrians are killed:

-5 percent of the time when struck by a car traveling 20 mph

-37-45 percent of the time when struck by a car traveling 30 mph

-83-85 percent of the time when struck by a car traveling 40 mph.

In light of these findings, it’s scary to realize that traffic on many if not most American roads travels closer to 40 mph than 20 mph.

“If we could do one switch to make safer streets it would be to reduce car speeds to 20 mph, which would reduce pedestrian fatalities by 90 percent,” says Scott Bricker, Executive Director of the America Walkspedestrian advocacy network.  America Walks also plays a role in Every Body Walk!, a collaborative of citizens, businesses and organizations across many fields convened by the health care non-profit Kaiser Permanente.

This means more than lowering speed limits. Charlie Zegeer, project manager at the University of North Carolina’s authoritative Pedestrian and Bicycle Information Center (PBIC) says, “Research shows that lowering a speed limit without other improvements like road design changes or improved police enforcement doesn’t work to slow traffic-- it’s the roadway design that affects the speed.”

Here’s a few of practical steps to slow speeds, deter distracted driving and help make walking a safer, comfortable and enjoyable experience for everyone.  This is where Vision Zero hits the road.

Read more: http://www.onthecommons.org/magazine/these-streets-are-made-for-walking

Biking or walking may be the secret to a happier life

There are many anecdotes about the joys of trading in a car for a bike, and now researchers in England are backing this idea with data. A study from the University of East Anglia and the Centre for Diet and Activity Research finds that people who switch from commuting by car to biking or walking improved their overall well-being.

Researchers examined data from 18,000 commuters in Britain, collected by the British Household Panel Survey. They looked at mental health indicators such as feelings of worthlessness, sleepless nights, the ability to face problems and unhappiness. People who walk or cycle to work reported better concentration and lower levels of stress, compared to people who drive a car.

The study controlled for a number of factors that also impact well-being, like income, relationship changes and switching jobs.

Read more: http://www.treehugger.com/health/biking-or-walking-may-be-secret-happier-life.html

Why Walking Helps Us Think

In Vogue’s 1969 Christmas issue, Vladimir Nabokov offered some advice for teaching James Joyce’s “Ulysses”: “Instead of perpetuating the pretentious nonsense of Homeric, chromatic, and visceral chapter headings, instructors should prepare maps of Dublin with Bloom’s and Stephen’s intertwining itineraries clearly traced.” He drew a charming one himself. Several decades later, a Boston College English professor named Joseph Nugent and his colleagues put together an annotated Google map that shadows Stephen Dedalus and Leopold Bloom step by step. The Virginia Woolf Society of Great Britain, as well as students at the Georgia Institute of Technology, havesimilarly reconstructed the paths of the London amblers in “Mrs. Dalloway.”

Such maps clarify how much these novels depend on a curious link between mind and feet. Joyce and Woolf were writers who transformed the quicksilver of consciousness into paper and ink. To accomplish this, they sent characters on walks about town. As Mrs. Dalloway walks, she does not merely perceive the city around her. Rather, she dips in and out of her past, remolding London into a highly textured mental landscape, “making it up, building it round one, tumbling it, creating it every moment afresh.”

Since at least the time of peripatetic Greek philosophers, many other writers have discovered a deep, intuitive connection between walking, thinking, and writing. (In fact, Adam Gopnik wrote about walking in The New Yorker just two weeks ago.) “How vain it is to sit down to write when you have not stood up to live!” Henry David Thoreau penned in his journal. “Methinks that the moment my legs begin to move, my thoughts begin to flow.” Thomas DeQuincey has calculated that William Wordsworth—whose poetry is filled with tramps up mountains, through forests, and along public roads—walked as many as a hundred and eighty thousand miles in his lifetime, which comes to an average of six and a half miles a day starting from age five.

What is it about walking, in particular, that makes it so amenable to thinking and writing? The answer begins with changes to our chemistry. When we go for a walk, the heart pumps faster, circulating more blood and oxygen not just to the muscles but to all the organs—including the brain. Many experiments have shown that after or during exercise, even very mild exertion, people perform better on tests of memory and attention. Walking on a regular basis also promotes new connections between brain cells, staves off the usual withering of brain tissue that comes with age, increases the volume of the hippocampus (a brain region crucial for memory), and elevates levels of molecules that both stimulate the growth of new neurons and transmit messages between them.

Read more: http://www.newyorker.com/tech/elements/walking-helps-us-think

Walk to work — you’ll be happier

A recent survey from Montreal’s McGill University suggests that people who walk or take the train to the McGill campus are more satisfied with their daily commutes than those who do anything else.

Makes sense: If you walk or take the train, you’re not a slave to traffic. Ride the train, and you can even use your commute to get work done. That explains why walkers and train riders expressed 85 and 84 percent commute satisfaction, respectively.

But the discrepancies between the other modes of transportation are where things get interesting. Look at cyclists (82 percent satisfaction) and bus riders (75.5 percent), for example.

Read more: http://grist.org/news/walk-to-work-youll-be-happier/

ACTIVE TRANSPORT: THE FAST TRACK TO BETTER LIVING

Good for the environment, the economy and our wellbeing, cycling and walking also provide a range of social and health benefits for individuals. In its latest policy statement, ‘Active Transport,’ CIWEM calls on Government to make Britain’s streets and roads safe for walking and cycling.

Cycling and walking are everyday activities that enhance and complement the built and rural landscape and living environment, yet current infrastructure, facilities, motoring laws and protocols do not support routine cycling and walking. In its new policy position statement published today, the Chartered Institution of Water and Environmental Management (CIWEM), calls on government to: create a high profile Centre for Active Transport - dedicated to integrating safe cycling and walking into the nation’s everyday lives; promote a safe roads initiative; and allocate greater funding for active transport with cross-departmental cooperation to maximise the benefits from this investment.

Currently, planning policy does not explicitly encourage walking and cycling. Given the expected increase in levels of urban living (60% of the world’s population by 2030), investment and commitment are urgently required to secure cities and towns where walking and cycling are primary transport options.

The statement highlights the need for immediate safety concerns to be addressed; proposing that each local authority should have a road safety plan and a director-level manager or chief officer with responsibility for embedding safe cycling and walking in their communities. CIWEM also calls for full inclusion of all the benefits of active transport when comparing them with other transport investments.

CIWEM痴 Executive Director, Nick Reeves OBE, says: 展e all know that motorised transport is the main contributor to urban pollution; walking and cycling are not. Government must work harder to make active transport options truly accessible and democratic. Strong policy and more investment in cycling and walking are essential to sustainable and resilient local economies. The health and environmental benefits would also be significant, and transform peoples�lives. By foot and bike, what痴 not to like?

The Chartered Institution of Water and Environmental Management (CIWEM) is an independent professional body and a registered charity, advancing the science and practice of water and environmental management for a clean, green and sustainable world. www.ciwem.org

CIWEM痴 policy position statement, Active Transport, can be found online at http://www.ciwem.org/policy-and-international/policy-position-statements/active-transport.aspx.

The All Party Parliamentary Cycling Group is a cross-party group of MPs, is co-chaired by Ian Austin, the MP for Dudley (Lab) and Julian Huppert, the MP for Cambridge (LD). It has conducted an Inquiry and taken evidence on cycling and will publish its report with recommendations in April 2013. http://allpartycycling.org/inquiry/

Peter Treadgold, CIWEM Honorary Vice President, has initiated CIWEM's work in active transport; drawing on his experience in the promotion and delivery of cycling and walking programmes in London, and nationally for the Olympic Games.

Full Disclosure Statement: The GREEN (LIVING) REVIEW received no compensation for any component of this article.

People in Denver urged to take to the pavements

Denver pedestrian groups promote walking in the urban environment

by Michael Smith (Veshengro)

While the city of Denver, Colorado, USA, may be regarded as one of the fittest cities in the US and one can see a literal army of people run and bike whatever the weather. With their long strides and pounding feet, and their whirring spokes, they underscore why the State of Colorado is the least obese in the Union.

Walking to somewhere? Walking to the stores or to work? That is rather a different story and very few would even think about it let alone do it.

Americans, outside of NYC, which is regarded as the most walked and biked city ion the US, while jogging and cycling for sports, and not only Americans fall into that category for in Britain it is much the same, unfortunately, are car orientated when it comes to getting from A to B and going to the shops or to work. Cycling and walking rarely figures on the horizon in that department.

While in rural America it is understandable with the often rather vast distances between places and especially between farms and towns, cities just ask for an alternative approach.

In Denver now two people are trying to change the public's view on walking in the city. One of them is Gosia Kung and the other Dr. Andrew M. Freeman.

In very different ways and for very different reasons (she is an architect and he a cardiologist) they are trying to (re)incorporate the physical activity of walking into the sinews of a place that, despite of its fantastic record of low obesity and high fitness, has lost touch, like most American cities (and not just cities in America), with the idea of walking as means of transportation.

In 2011 Mrs. Kung co-founded a non-profit group called “Walk Denver”, which is trying to get the city certified as “walk friendly”. It is also an advocate for a previously voiceless group, the ordinary walker — whispering into the ears of city planners, or nagging if need be, and preaching to the public.

It is the physical space of a city that creates a pedestrian’s view of the world. Ample sidewalks are crucial but they provide only the means of access to an environment that must then reward walkers through attractions like shopping and entertainment that cater specifically to foot traffic.

More walkers, whether strolling or striding, in turn reinforce an old idea that many cities have forgotten: better public health and improved economic life go together.

In Europe, where Mrs. Kung comes from, and in her case Poland, cities are different and people do walk there (or cycle) to get to the shops, to work, to school, to visit a cafe or restaurant or to go to the theatre even.

Many European cities can be used as an example, be it Mrs. Kung's birthplace of Krakow, or Prague, Berlin, Hamburg, Copenhagen or Amsterdam. All of them are walked and cycled in great numbers, with the likes of Copenhagen and Amsterdam in the forefront, probably.

British and American cities are different and in the USA it has to do with the layout often where the city centres may be dense where offices, shops, and such are located, but the zones where the homes are are sprawling suburbs that are miles away from the center and thus, in many cases, walking, and even cycling is not an option.

Many of today's American cities were expanded during the oil boom and were designed not with people but with the car in mind. And, while British cities are a little different, here also the life was removed from the city centers in that houses were moved from there to other areas and everything else became offices, shops, cafes, workplaces. This happened a decade or so after the Second World War during the rebuilding of the cities that had been bombed.

Despite the fact that many great European cities also were in ruins they were rebuilt in such a way that people were part and parcel of the center and of the life of the city and would not just travel into the city from afar to work. Thus towns and cities of all shapes and sizes in Europe remained vibrant living places even in the very center and walkable.

In the US the great main exception is Manhattan, NYC. Manhattan, almost certainly the most pedestrian-dominated urban place in America, never planned for such an outcome; density and the constriction of island life made it just happen as the city grew. Many other cities got so split up or sealed off by the explosion of road building after World War II that pedestrian life all but died, or was never even born. And this is the same what I was saying about the British cities when, after the war, during the rebuilding large road building took place and suburbia, rarely known before, marched further and further into the countryside and away from the city.

Things will have to change and when we finally, all, including the likes of the dipsticks in DC, come to realize that oil is running out, they will.

However, meanwhile the dipsticks are still blinkered as cam be seen by the two transportation bills that went before Congress which will sharply reduce and even eliminate programs to foster more cycling and walking. Those bills, so I understand, have now both been passed, and thus the oil industry is laughing all the way to the bank.

Walking itself, and cycling, can safe money in gasoline or bus or train fares and cost not very much to start with and when it comes to walking all it costs is shoe leather.

It is such a shame that American cities don't seem to get walking and cycling, as a whole. The problem is also greatly confounded by the very fact that the governments in the US, and especially Federal Government, , including the senators and congressmen and-women, are deep in the pockets of the oil industry and walking and cycling is not on their agenda.

© 2012

London Borough of Sutton honored for getting people on their bikes

by Michael Smith (Veshengro)

The council of the London Borough of Sutton has won a major award for its work in helping people in the borough change the way they travel.

Sutton Council was named "Most Improved Transport Local Authority of The Year" in the prestigious National Transport Awards 2010.

Judges praised the authority for its Smarter Travel Sutton campaign, which has inspired a 75 per cent increase in cycling, a six per cent shift away from car use and a 16 per cent increase in people traveling by bus. This all can be only a good thing and maybe could be emulated in other, neighboring boroughs as well.

The three-year project is now being studied by other authorities across London and experts from Europe, South Korea and Singapore.

Cllr Simon Wales, Sutton Council's Executive Member for Communities, Transport and Voluntary Sector, said: "We're immensely proud to have been honored in this way but the real praise should go to the people of Sutton, who have embraced the campaign and got healthier while at the same time reducing pollution and helping to tackle congestion.

"By traveling by public transport, cycling or walking, residents are not just choosing the greenest option – they're also choosing the quickest, cheapest and easiest option."

And, especially when walking and cycling, the residents of Sutton not only, as Cllr. Wales said, are choosing the greenest option they are also choosing the healthiest option, one that can get and keep them fit.

Now in their tenth year, the awards recognize excellence, innovation and progress in the transport field.

Transport Secretary, Philip Hammond said: "I would like to pay tribute to the winners for the work that they do and the difference they make. With their dedication harnessed to the full, we can make our vision of a world-class British transport system a reality."

The ceremony of the awards was hosted by radio and television presenter Grant Stott, drew over 500 transport professionals to Manchester.

I can but hope that they all came by train, bicycle and walked...

© 2010

No targets for walking or cycling to London 2012 Olympics

by Michael Smith (Veshengro)

Olympics minister Tessa Jowell has admitted the Government has no targets for the amount of people who will walk or use cycles to get to 2012 venues.

The Government has poured millions of pounds into improving transport in and around the capital as part of the long-term legacy of the games.

But, with events due to be staged at venues all over the capital the opportunity to encourage millions of Londoners to walk or cycle is not being exploited.

Nor, so it would appear are there any provisions being made as regards to good and proper cycling and walking routes to the Olympic venues.

Speaking at the Foreign Policy Center's 'Access and Inclusion... Delivering the Green Games' Mrs Jowell admitted no targets were in place, making it impossible to commit to other infrastructure such as cycle racks.

She said: "As to targets for cycling and walking ... we're not setting specific targets."

With the mayor of London, Boris Johnson, committed to plans originally announced by his predecessor, Ken Livingstone, to place 6,000 free rental bikes across London's nine inner boroughs Mrs Jowell seems to be ignoring the benefits of cycling for the games.

Mr Johnson's director of transport policy, Kulveer Ranger, at the same event commented on the lack of a sustainable travel plan.

He said: "It's not there as a fully fledged policy and it needs to be."

It sure does need to be there as a policy but as a writer based in the UK and just south of London I must say that I am not surprised as regards this attitude from the government at all.

As per usual London and Britain miss an opportunity to show the way in green innovation. Then again, the way are as regards to cycling, they could not lead if they tried for the will too create what is being asked for again and again they are not willing to provide.

As I have said previously Britain only makes half-hearted attempts and talks a lot but that about is it when it comes to cycling provisions.

The same is true as to public transit, e.g. buses, trains, etc. where fares are permitted to rise and rise in such a way that using public transport is not really financially viable over the use of the motorcar and hence no real uptake of the services and people remain in their cars for every conceivable trip. Public transport is, simply, too expensive.

But, we were talking about cycling and walking to the Olympics in 2012...

Cities who host the Olympics often have a rare opportunity to improve their infrastructure in a major way. London will host the games in 2012, and it is probably doing a lot of things right, but it seems like it could do more to make the city friendlier to cyclists and pedestrians. One of the weaknesses of the city's bid to the International Olympic Committee was public transportation and it still is, especially the cost of it. The decisions London makes now will have an impact for decades to come, so it is worth doing it right, but, alas,the entire thing is going well over budget and they will claim that they cannot make those provisions.

As already mentioned the British Olympics minister (a special minister just for this), Tessa Jowell, has admitted that she has no targets for the amount of people who will walk or bike to go see the games.

And we can be certain that without specific targets, set by her and her department, it will be most surprising if much emphasis is going to put on the greenest forms of transportation, namely cycling and walking, and that will be a great shame.

One can but hope, but I will not gold my breath, that they will reconsider and set some ambitious – but realistic – targets for walking and cycling to the games, and do their best to provide the infrastructure and incentives to make it happen.

Providing the infrastructure, however, is going to be the moot point in that they will claim that there are no finances for that. It would need paths planned and built for this and that would

What London needs is more bike lanes (especially physically separated ones) and maybe even some pedestrian-only streets.

London will live with the legacy of the 2012 Olympics for a long time. So let us seize the moment and make London a more bike and pedestrian-friendly city.

Let's start with London and then with rest to follow and that pronto! The entire country needs to take a new a different look at cycling (and walking) and with the proper infrastructure I am sure the take up of cycling and walking, to the Olympics and especially afterwards for shopping, commuting, school run and leisure, will follow.

At present the roads are just too dangerous for the cyclist as motorists are more or less prepared to mow down the cyclist without any hesitation should a cyclist come into their way. The attitude of most drivers is that cyclists have no right to be on the road and hence...

© 2009
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Port Talbot's dedicated walking and cycling network - a step closer

It's one year since Sustrans' Connect2 won the TV vote to bring £50million of lottery funding to 79 communities across the UK to create networks for everyday journeys for people travelling by foot or bike.

On Monday, December 8, 2008, the multi-million pound Connect2 project, to connect Port Talbot to Cwmafan and Afan forest by a dedicated walking and cycling network, is a step closer as sustainable transport charity Sustrans and its Connect2 partners at Neath Port Talbot County Borough 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 create a continuous walking and cycling network enabling people to travel to work, to school and the shops.

In the last month - the Forestry Commission has completed a new river bridge near the Afan Forest Park Visitor Centre, improving links within the forest - and the Cwmafan Residents Action Committee, a local community group, have secured funding from BBC Breathing Places and Welsh Assembly Government Tidy Towns for local environmental enhancements.
Next year, work is scheduled to complete the backbone of the route - a three mile-long greenway which will enable walkers and cyclists to bypass a dangerously busy, narrow and steep road and choose a tranquil traffic free path instead.

In 2010 it is hoped to complete the final elements of the scheme - artworks, gateways and improve links from the greenway to the communities in Cwmafan and Pontrhydyfen.
Neath Port Talbot County Borough Council Member for Streetcare and Highway Services Cllr. Arwyn Woolcock from says: "This new route will have enormous benefits once completed. Not only will it provide residents with a safer and more environmentally friendly route between Cwmafan, Port Talbot and the Afan Forest, but it will also have an impact on people's health by encouraging them to ditch their cars and walk to work, school and to the shops."

Sustrans' Area Manager, Helen Davies says: "Once open, this route will enable people the people of Port Talbot to journey and explore the beautiful countryside of Afan forest and its mountain bike centre in a way which is beneficial to their health and the environment."
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 Port Talbot Connect2 scheme is £2million, 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 annually will be invested in creating these local walking and cycling networks from Devon to Perthshire.

Source: Sustrans
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