Next Wednesday (11 October) Doncaster Council’s cabinet will accept a grant of £1,004,024 to improve a portion of the Trans Pennine Trail between York Road and Melton Road in Cusworth.

Funding was partially awarded from active travel charity Sustrans, which was granted funds from the Department for Transport in order to set up cycle network projects across the UK.

In addition to Sustrans funding, the South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority (SYMCA) has granted £350,000 to the council as part of the City Region Sustainable Transport Settlement.

This settlement was granted to the SYMCA from central government to combat weaknesses in local transport.

In total, the SYMCA received £570 million from this settlement which will be used for a variety of transport improvements.

The Trans Pennine Trail is a popular walking and cycling route which stretches from the Humber to the Merseyside.

Over 1.6km of the trail will be resurfaced with the funding, following consultation in 2021 which identified that the area was most in need of improvement.

Other improvements will include the installation of additional benches, improved wayfinding and biodiversity improvements.

Adaptations will also be made to barriers around the site, such as widening access, to improve accessibility.

The improvements will allow the council to work towards central government targets to ensure that 50 percent of all journeys are completed through active travel by 2030.

Doncaster Council has formed its own ‘Get Doncaster Moving’ strategy to achieve these aims.

Trans Pennine Trail: Council set to receive £1 million grant to improve Trans Pennine Trail