Belfast to get Boris Bikes

Date: 9/8/2012

Belfast has been announced as the latest city to get so called Boris Bikes, as part of a £2.14 million scheme to get more people riding bikes in Northern Ireland.

Councillor Deirdre Hargey said: "It would be similar to schemes in other European countries where a tourist could rent a bike out for a few hours or up to three days. Commuters could also have a longer or annual subscription to the scheme."

As well as the public access bicycle scheme which was made popular by London Mayor Boris Johnson, a certain amount of new road infrastructure will come along with it.

This will include cycling and pedestrian routes for various parts of Northern Ireland, including Londonderry and Strabane.

It all comes as part of an Active Travel Scheme, which was announced by Danny Kennedy, Regional Development Minister.

Londonderry already has a number of completed pedestrian routes but the city council aims to create three kilometres more of traffic-free cycle and pedestrian routes.

These will link up with those pedestrian routes already in place and amenities such as schools, businesses, residential areas and train and bus stations.

In total these new routes will cost £1,348,000 and will be supplemented with 40 school travel plans and ten workplace travel plans in order to ensure they are used.

John Kelpie, Chairman of Derry Access Forum and Strategic Director with Derry City Council said: "This money will assist us in making people think about how they can travel more sustainably, and offer them real alternatives so they can enjoy the financial, environmental and health benefits of leaving the car behind."

In Strabane measures are also to be put in place to improve road safety for pedestrians and cyclists, which will include a new bridge and 2.4 kilometres of routes costing £873,000.

Councillor Thomas Kerrigan said: "Strabane District Council is delighted to receive this much-needed funding which will assist us in completing the pedestrian and cycle bridge at Melvin."

Posted by Nick Anderson

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