Hundreds of new walking and cycling routes to be built in Milton Keynes

Around 300 new walking and cycling routes have been proposed for Milton Keynes.

Under the new Local Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plan, MK Council invited town and parish councils to put forward local schemes and ideas which could improve the existing networks.

More than 100 new submissions were sent in to add to the other 200 others already identified by the council.

Now local people are now being encouraged to view and comment on the proposals, all of which have been reviewed and designed with the support of key partners, including cycling forum members.

Proposals include the East West route through Central Milton Keynes as well as new cycling links to better connect Bletchley to the rest of the city.

Details about the consultation and how to respond can be found on the council website here.

Cabinet member for Climate Action and Sustainability, Cllr Jenny Wilson-Marklew said: “We’re always looking for better and more sustainable ways to make it even easier to get around MK. These proposals are really exciting and will make a massive difference for local people, especially those that use redways to cycle around the city.”

A Local Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plan (LCWIP) allows local authorities to take a more strategic approach for delivering walking and cycling schemes. The plan strengthens future bids for funding and accelerates the delivery of new infrastructure.

Milton Keynes’ LCWIP focuses on delivering smaller “missing links” schemes (gaps in the existing redway network), planning new larger schemes, where there is no infrastructure at present, as well as improving existing redway infrastructure.

There is currently more than 340km of redways in Milton Keynes - but the dominant mode of transport is still the private vehicle, says the council.