{"id":486,"date":"2022-04-22T11:47:14","date_gmt":"2022-04-22T10:47:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hedgehogcycling.co.uk\/wp\/?p=486"},"modified":"2022-04-22T13:14:56","modified_gmt":"2022-04-22T12:14:56","slug":"possibility-that-hs2-access-roads-will-become-walking-cycling-paths","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hedgehogcycling.co.uk\/wp\/2022\/04\/22\/possibility-that-hs2-access-roads-will-become-walking-cycling-paths\/","title":{"rendered":"Possibility that HS2 Access Roads Will Become Walking & Cycling Paths"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Possibility that HS2 Access Roads Will Become Walking & Cycling Paths<\/span><\/h1>\n\n\n\n
\"Stop
Stop HS2 Poster<\/a>, by John Winder, Licence CC BY-SA 2.0<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

HS2 access roads could be turned into walking and cycling paths, reports New Civil Engineer<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Temporary roads have to be built for workers to access HS2 sites. Rail minister Andrew Stephenson said he had asked HS2 to look into re-purposing them after construction of the railway line.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Quality Design<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The paths would be built to a quality design, with a 3m cycle path and a 2.5m footpath, separated by a grass verge, and some distance from the train line.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

320km<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The total length could be 320km, from London to Manchester. Work is already under way on the first 80km, to be known as the Buckinghamshire Greenway.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Funding and Feasibility<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

New Civil Engineer says funding would come from the government’s 5-year \u00a32 billion cycling and walking budget. \u00a32 billion sounds like a big number, but it is only \u00a3400 million per year; it is surprising it isn’t already fully committed to local projects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A feasibility study was commissioned by David Cameron in 2013 and completed in 2016. One of the consultancies involved in it was Phil Jones Associates, and Mr Jones said, ‘The whole is greater than the parts. You could build a hundred cycling schemes in a hundred towns, but by linking them together it becomes something more substantial.’<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The feasibility study said that the project could serve as a catalyst for greatly improved cycling infrastructure nationwide to a level that is seen in the Netherlands. When the study was eventually published in 2018, the DfT and HS2 Ltd both refused to fund the active travel infrastructure<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

History of the HS2 Project<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In 2012, HS2 was supposed to cost \u00a334 billion. Since then the bill has skyrocketed:<\/p>\n\n\n\n