£868,000 cycle lane at accident blackspot

The lane will run beside the A1035 near Beverley between Tickton and White Cross roundabout and is expected to be open in three months.

The £868,000 scheme is being funded by the Department for Transport’s Cycle Safety Fund following an application from East Riding Council’s transport policy team and is the third highest award from 78 successful bids across the country.

A further section of cycle lane on Swinemoor Lane in Beverley, between Swinemoor Lane roundabout and Grovehill roundabout, will be completed next year.

One cyclist has been killed and five others injured, two of them seriously, in accidents between the Swinemoor and White Cross roundabouts in the past five years.

Mike Babbitt, Yorkshire and the Humber project manager at the charity Sustrans, said: “This is great news for local cyclists and will hopefully also encourage people who don’t cycle to get on their bikes.

“Cycling is a fast, cheap and healthy way to travel yet only one in 50 local trips is by bike.

“People often cite safety as the reason why they don’t cycle. Investment like this will really encourage more people to get on their bikes for their everyday journeys.”

Coun Chris Matthews, the council’s portfolio holder for infrastructure, highways and emergency planning, said: “The start of this scheme is more welcome news for the East Riding and is an example of this authority’s commitment to securing funding wherever possible to invest and improve the infrastructure of the area.”

The A1035 is the main route into Beverley from the east and Holderness and carries about 17,000 vehicles a day, including 800 heavy goods vehicles.