Past, present & future of cycling in Bristol

As we approach the 20th anniversary of the National Cycle Network, Bristol24/7 takes a ride to where it all began before looking forward at what’s to come for cyclists in the city.

“I built this path,” says John Grimshaw, the former CEO of Sustrans, to a group of cyclists from an insurance company waiting for their bikes ahead of their team-building ride to Bath.

We are standing at the very start of the Bristol & Bath Railway path taking pictures for this article when we fall into conversation with the team, many of whom – believe it or not – are virgins of the greenway which now carries some two million cyclists a year.

Their trip is especially significant for a very proud-feeling John, given that the National Cycle Network is celebrating its 20th anniversary in Queen Square on Saturday at the Fair on the Square.

It is not a stretch of the imagination, John says further up the track, to say that this is exactly where it all started. Ten years before he secured the first funding for the network in 1995, the engineer was beavering away with hundreds of volunteers (with Cycle Bag, back then) to turn this overgrown, disused, former commercial railway line into one of the nation’s most popular commuter cycle tracks – and one of the first of its kind.

“There’s no doubt this track here ended up giving councillors the courage to back more and more projects like this when they saw how many people used it,” John says. “It became the inspiration for the whole network.”

The network has now spread the length and breadth of the UK, covering 14,000 miles in total. It also weaves in and out of Bristol and the surrounding areas on an increasing number of segregated cycle ways and quiet roads.

And each year – very slowly, admittedly – new routes are added. Segueing their way into the network are a number of cycle schemes being forward in Bristol as the city struggles to cope with the spiralling numbers choosing to ditch their cars and ride to work.

The former Cycling City is forever criticised for still not doing enough. Cyclists want protection from cars. Cars want cyclists off “their” roads. And nobody wants cyclists inevitably jumping red lights and riding on the pavements while the infrastructure catches up with them.

One of the people trying to give that catch-up a boost is Eric Booth from the Bristol Cycling Campaign.

After a two-year project which started with a crowd-funded manifesto, the campaign eventually persuaded the council last year to commit to a number of key cycling objectives. Most of them are quite boring, like getting 20 per cent of commuter journeys to be made by bike by 2016, or committing to spending £16 per head per year on cycling.

However, dig a little deeper into the Bristol Cycle Strategy and you will find a London Underground-style map with a network of paths which is the ultimate goal.

In reality, it is a long way off, and depends on securing grants and funding – a constant bidding battle with central government and lotteries etc.

But a few of the key, uninterrupted routes – or Freeways – are already in the pipeline, with the money being held back for many more too.

Segregated Dutch-style lanes, already seen in Baldwin Street, are due to open on Clarence Road, connecting Temple Meads to Bedminster, and Easton Way (below), connecting St Paul’s with Lawrence Hill.

A new bridge is to be built across the Avon New Cut, connecting Southville with the centre, and the old Ashton Avenue Bridge is set to be modified.

The new MetroBus route, running from Hengrove to Cribbs Causeway and Emersons Green, will hold new cycle paths along some of its way.

And looking ahead further down the line, schemes are being planned to open an each-way segregated track down the entire Feeder Road, the old Avon towpath is to be adapted to Keynsham and a path to Yate is on the cards, having hit a few obstacles.

It is a start, says Eric, who is constantly banging the drum for the Bristol Cycle Campaign. “In some ways we have seen stage one up and running. Where we are now is in common with everyone else –  looking ahead to the next elections.”

The mayoral run-in, he says, will be crucial in carrying over the will and enthusiasm which has been built up over the past few years – especially with the campaign’s latest plans to look at cycling provision which is needed ward by ward.

“It’s very helpful having this map for Bristol as a whole, but if each of the neighbourhood partnerships could now get involved with their own map, that would be the next level.

“Then we can work out what needs to be done in each ward by each councillor, supported by a mayor who supports the vision.”

Ian Barrett, current South West director of Sustrans, agrees we should be “probably need to be looking at raising our ambition”, in Bristol.

Despite the city leading the way for the last 20 years in the UK, he worries it might not be enough. “With the city set to grow something like 25 per cent by 2030, and tens of thousands more people looking to get to work at the Temple Quarter Enterprize Zone, congestion is going to be a big deal,” he says, ahead of Sustrans big 20th anniversary event on Saturday.

He says the city is still “handicapped” by central government Department for Transport funding and the fact the city still has no plan to become part of a combined authority – unlocking key powers and funding for sustainable transport.

He adds: “Bristol has got a fantastic cycling culture. The number of cyclists in the city is fantastic and it is easy to take that for granted. However, we should still be celebrating what we have done so far – and in such a hilly city.”

Saturday’s event will include a ride down the Bristol & Bath Railway Path to Queen Square to celebrate the network, in a nod to where it all started.

Standing on the very tarmac – the very foundations of the network, if you will –  John looks back fondly at the point where it all began.

With bikes weaving past him as he walk across the path to sit on a wall, he recalls his cavalier attitude of the time which ended up giving birth to a (sort of) revolution.

“We drew up the plans and put in for £42 million of new lottery money,” he says. “I don’t know why; I think it was because it was the answer to life, universe and everything.” (see the Hitchiker’s Guide to the Galaxy)

He adds: “You could see immediately when it was built that if you just gave people the opportunity, they would cycle.

“So in one sense we knew from the start if we built good, high-quality routes – no obstacles, no barriers – you would get lots and lots of people using them.

“In that way there’s no end to the opportunities, really. The more you do, the more people will cycle.”

For more information about Saturday’s event, visit www.sustrans.org.uk/events/fair-square-bristol.