'£1bn pledged' for cycling and walking routes across England

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The government has earmarked £1bn for safe cycling and walking routes in the next five years – not £350m, as Boris Johnson mistakenly told parliament in what one expert called “a car crash of an announcement�, the Guardian has learned.

But £1bn is still not enough to even build Greater Manchester’s 1,800-mile Bee Network of safe paths, according to its architect, Chris Boardman, a former Olympic cycling champion who is the region’s walking and cycling commissioner. He has asked Johnson for £1.2bn and says he will continue to do so.

“[The announcement] doesn’t change anything for me. I’m asking for what is required to deliver a network, not asking how much can we have. HS2 didn’t say: ‘How much can we have to build the rail network?’ – they’ve just said what the bill is going to be, ‘do you want to pay it?’ That’s the right approach,� he said.
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On Tuesday the prime minister announced a £5bn fund to “overhaul bus and cycle links for every region [of England] outside London�. This, he said, would result in cyclists “enjoying hundreds of miles of brand-new separated lanes, with ‘mini-Hollands’ blooming like so many tulips in towns and cities right across the country�

Details were vague but a government press release promised “over 250 miles of new, high-quality separated cycle routes and safe junctions�, as well as pilots of low-traffic neighbourhoods – the so-called mini-Hollands – which prioritise people over cars.

Asked in parliament by the Labour MP Ruth Cadbury – co-chair of the all-party parliamentary group for cycling and walking – how much of the £5bn would go to cycling, Johnson hesitated, looked at his notes and said: “In the first stage, £350m.�

The investment was described by Wera Hobhouse, the Liberal Democrat MP for Bath, as “a complete joke�. Cadbury had prefaced her question by pointing out that it would cost at least £5bn to achieve the government’s ambition of doubling the rate of cycling from 2% to 4% of all trips.

But Johnson got his figures wrong, according to two sources in Downing Street. They insisted “at least £1bn� of the £5bn would be for walking and cycling, in addition to the £350m pledged in the Conservative election manifesto.

“It was a car crash of an announcement,� said one well-placed source. “We are pretty sure Boris made a mistake when answering that question and in fact it’s about £1bn for cycling now.�

Cadbury said she would be submitting a written question asking for clarification on the matter. “Until I see it in black and white I won’t believe it. All this confusion is symptomatic of the chaos No 10 operates in,� she said.

Rachel White, the head of public affairs at the walking and cycling charity Sustrans, said: “One billion is a step in the right direction but there is a long way to go to meet the government’s own ambitions and aims. Somewhere between £6bn and £8bn is what is needed to build capacity and capability in our walking and cycling networks.�

https://www.theguardian.com/environm...-boris-johnson