Get on your bike
“When I see an adult on a bicycle I have hope for the human race” HG Wells
Tweedgreen plans to make our community more bike-friendly, to decrease traffic on our streets and to encourage people to see cycling as a fun, healthy, low carbon method of getting around.
Many of us living in Tweeddale love mountain biking as a recreational sport. We go to Glentress at the weekends and the more hardcore do the downhill at Innerleithen. We love the thrill of mountain biking. Our roads are full of mountain bikers at the weekend. But why aren’t there more people using their bikes as a form of transport?
As part of our sustainable transport programme, Tweedgreen aims to encourage more of us to use our bikes as a form of transport and not just a form of recreation. One of the objectives of our Travel Survey, carried out by Transportation Planning International in May-August 2011, is to understand why so few people are using their bikes to visit the shops, their friends or to get to work. Safety is clearly an issue. We need to work to make drivers more considerate towards cyclists and to develop a safe cycling route. We are working together with Scottish Borders Council and Sustrans to help make our roads a safer place for cyclists and to develop safe cycling routes.
Cycle Paths Update
Scottish Borders Council has successfully secured EU funding to complete the shared pathway from Peebles to Innerleithen. The cycle pathway should be complete by the end of 2012. This will provide a fantastic parallel infrastructure for cyclists, enabling us to cycle safely around the area.
A group called the Upper Tweed Railway Paths is also lobbying and securing funds to re-surface up the disused railway path to link Symington, Biggar, Broughton and Peebles. The new pathway would link in to the upcoming Peebles to Innerleithen shared pathway, providing a safe cycle path for families, visitors and commuters. To register your support for this initiative, please visit www.uppertweedrailwaypaths.org.uk
A safe cycling network is vital to encourage people to use their bikes more for recreational and transport purposes. The creation of these shared pathways will provide a boost to the local economy and will help to reduce our carbon footprint by providing a safe alternative to using the car.
Tweedgreen has also carried out a feasibility study into building a pathway for cyclists and people with reduced mobility near Haylodge Hospital. The pathway is currently obstructed by some steep steps. This cycle link path would provide continuous access along the River Tweed, enabling people to cycle along the River Tweed to Haylodge Park, including to Kingsland Primary School. We have been working jointly with Sustrans and Scottish Borders Council to find a solution to this issue.
The Tweedgreen Travel Challenge
Through the Tweedgreen Challenge, we are promoting the use of bikes for short journeys. Rather than jump in the car just to pop to the local shop, how about jumping on your bike? You will feel the benefits, not just when you next fuel the car but also when you next try to slip into your jeans!
The benefits of cycling include:
1) It’s good for you. Cycling is a great form of exercise that improves general fitness. It also burns calories, helping to tone the body and lose excess weight
2) It’s cheaper than driving. No petrol bills, parking tickets or bus fares.
3) It protects the environment. Cycling doesn’t rely on fossil fuels, it doesn’t produce pollution and has zero carbon emissions.
4) You’re in control. Go where you want to, when you want to.
5) It’s good fun. 300,000 bikers visiting Glentress and Innerleithen can’t be wrong! Cycling is one of the most popular activities in Scotland.
So there you have it. Even our unpredictable weather should not be a deterrent when there are so many advantages to getting on your bike.