New £3,340 cycle rack for Bishop's Stortford town centre

Sustainable transport for Bishop's Stortford has taken a further step forward with the installation of a new £3,340 cycle rack in the Causeway.

The bicycle parking – which can accommodate 16 bikes – follows a successful bid earlier this by East Herts Council (EHC) to highways authority Hertfordshire County Council (HCC) for a share of national funding allocated to the county for racks.

A spokeswoman for EHC said: "We were given a tight deadline to install the racks or lose the money, so representatives from Bishop's Stortford Town Council and East Herts Council worked together to find a suitable location where the rack could be installed under permitted development rights.

"The chosen location is next to soon-to-be-improved Castle Park and the Old River Lane development site, and so is at a good connecting point between the town centre and these new developments.

"The site is highly visible to pedestrians and motor users alike, which we believe will encourage commuters to change their travel mode to a more active and sustainable one."

The rack is in front of the disused public toilet block facing Charringtons House. Sawbridgeworth, Hertford, Ware and Buntingford will also get a rack each.

The county council received £1.25m from the Government's Active Travel Fund in June to implement a range of projects, including temporary cycle lanes, closures of road sections to through traffic, new cycle parking and upgrading of temporary measures to allow for social distancing in town centres during the coronavirus crisis.

Planters have been installed to discourage drivers in South Street and Potter Street, and single-lane restrictions have been introduced in Station Road as part of the scheme.

HCC is now deciding how to spend a further £6.4m from the Department for Transport to further develop the county's green travel network.

Cllr Phil Bibby, the council's cabinet member for highways and environment, said: "These improvements will encourage and empower many more people to travel in an active and environmentally friendly way, which in turn will deliver significant long-term benefits to the health and wellbeing of our residents and reduce our impact on the environment.

"We want everyone in Hertfordshire to be able to walk and cycle safely, and this important investment will allow the development of further access for all, helping to make the county more sustainable and ready for the future."