This petition has been started by Cycling UK Stevenage. As part of the national organisation, we want people of all ages, backgrounds, and abilities to be able to cycle safely, easily and enjoyably. We are all being encouraged to choose active travel, walking, and cycling for the good of our health and the environment.
Gresley Way is one of the busiest roads in Stevenage yet the entire northern section from Six Hills Way to Martins Way lacks any cycleway provision. Instead, people cycling along this route are forced to share the road carriageway with vehicles travelling up to 40 miles per hour.
Why is this important?
A safe space for cycling along the whole of Gresley Way would create a direct link between homes, schools, and workplaces throughout the east of Stevenage and connect with Great Ashby. Many children living in housing accessed from Gresley Way do not have a cycleway link to existing secondary schools; the new Michaela Stevenage secondary school is due to be built close to Gresley Way.
Safe infrastructure for cycling and walking is especially important now with the planned East of Stevenage development on the East Side of Gresley Way. This will increase the traffic levels with construction vehicles that are well known to be a serious hazard for on carriageway cyclists. Stevenage Borough Council have known about the need for this link since their 2002 Cycling Strategy was published.
We call on Hertfordshire County Council and Stevenage Borough Council to work together to upgrade the pedestrian path to give a safe high quality segregated space for walking and cycling - in line with our New Town planners' vision of high-quality joined up infrastructure and at least as good as the existing route on the southern end of the road.
This section of missing cycleway will make the route safe for everyone whether they are: walking, cycling or using the road. We encourage everyone to support and sign.