New cycle routes in Salisbury and Chippenham

People in Salisbury and Chippenham who get on their bikes will soon be able to enjoy improved cycle routes.

Following funding received from the government’s Local Sustainable Transport Fund, Wiltshire Council will be improving cycle routes on Devizes Road and at the St Mark’s roundabout in Salisbury and on Hungerdown Lane and other locations in Chippenham.

Horace Prickett, Wiltshire Council portfolio holder for transport, said: “I’m delighted with these improvements and it again underlines our commitment to green initiatives.

“Cycling is becoming more and more popular and cyclists will notice a big difference when they head out. Hopefully the improvements will also encourage people who don’t normally do so, to get on their bike and go out for a ride.”

The Devizes Road scheme in Salisbury aims to improve the route for cyclists travelling from the Fugglestone development and the Devizes Road area into the city centre. It will see the creation of a pedestrian and cyclist shared use path running from the south side of the Fuggelstone roundabout linking into the parallel service road. At the southern end of the service road, the footpath will be widened to link onto Devizes Road. This new route allows cyclists to bypass the 40mph section of Devizes Road and avoid the Fugglestone roundabout.

Improvements are also being made in the vicinity of the junction of Devizes Road and York Road with the creation of a pedestrian and cyclist shared use path starting adjacent to No. 12 Devizes Road linking into the underpass in York Road. This will allow cyclists to safely access the subways under the ring road. Cyclists must dismount at the southern exit of the subways to join Fisherton Street or St Paul’s Road.

Work on this scheme is due to take place between 19 January and 27 February.

The second scheme on St Mark’s roundabout in Salisbury improves access into the subways to allow cyclists to avoid the ring road. A short section of shared path is being created to connect the crossing on London Road to the subway. Another shared path will connect Bourne Avenue and Wain-a-Long Road to the subway on the other side of the rounabout. This will connect London Road, the city centre and the area around Wain-a-Long Road. It is hoped further facilities will be built connecting to these in the future. In particular, it is anticipated that a shared path alongside the ring road between St Mark’s roundabout and Castle roundabout could be constructed by the Highways Agency in the next few years.

Construction will take place between 26 January and 27 February.

Cycling has also been permitted over the ‘curly bridge’ on the ring road which links Marlborough Road and Victoria Road in Salisbury.

A number of schemes are currently in progress in Chippenham:

Hungerdown Lane – This will provide a shared use path along Hungerdown Lane from the Bath Road junction, up to the Sheldon Road junction and will include crossing improvements at these junctions also. Work started on site on January.

Bristol Road to Woodlands Road – This will widen footways on both sides of Bristol Road, including upgrading the existing pedestrian crossing to a Toucan crossing, linking the existing shared use path towards Hardenhuish Lane and the suitable on street cycling route on Woodlands Road. Work is due to start on site on 2 February.

Wood Lane/Avenue La Fleche – This includes widening of the footway to create a shared use path and upgrading a pedestrian crossing to a Toucan crossing. It also includes new dropped kerbs and a better connection to Wood Lane. Work started on site on 12 January.

London Road (Habrels Close to Wood Lane) – This involves widening the footway between Habrels Close and the existing zebra crossing on London Road to create a shared use path, connecting Habrels Close and Wood Lane for cyclists. Work started on site on 5 January.

In Trowbridge, a new shared path around the northern side of Stallard Street Gyratory has already been completed and shared use signs will soon be put up.  

Cyclists and pedestrians are encouraged to read the council’s code of conduct for shared use paths.

Further details and maps of the schemes can be found at www.wiltshire.gov.uk/towncyclenetworks.htm