Nottingham urban cycle route project after study summary report

The Nottingham Urban Cycle Route is one of the large scale cycle projects supported by the Department of Transport (DOT) cycle route research programme. The 30 km network serves the south west Quadrant of the Nottingham urban area. The new construction links the city centre, West Bridgeford, Beeston and Wollaton to each other and to the established Clifton Cycle Route. The report compares survey and cycle count data taken in 1990 after completion of the network with similar data from 1985 before construction started and also with cycle count data from the years between. There was no clear trend evident of increasing numbers of cyclists with the completion of the network. This is perhaps not surprising given that the network has been implemented gradually and was only substantially completed in September 1990. Nationally there was a general decline in cycling of 15 per cent whereas in Nottingham as a whole the figure was 8.7 per cent. On the route, comparing 1985 with 1989, no fall in cycle travel occurred, and in 1990 there were notable increases recorded in Wollaton and Castle Boulevard, the latest areas to benefit from the route implementation. Over the period of the experiment bicycle ownership increased but the proportion of residents who said they cycled frequently decreased. In contrast car ownership increased and can be compared with the general increase in traffic flows. There has been an increase in the overall number of accidents involving pedal cyclists when the time period 1987-1990 is compared with the three years prior to 1985. However the increase took place in the northern part of the city away from the cycle route network and the number of cyclist casualties fell in the south west of the city. (A)