Minister urges greater use of NI's £15m cycling facilities

NIO Minister Angela Smith has urged people to get on their bikes this summer and make full use of £15 million worth of cycling facilities that have been provided throughout Northern Ireland.

She was speaking during a visit to Coleraine’s £1.1 million Waterside Millennium Foot/Cycle Bridge, which crosses the River Bann near the town centre and carries 260,000 cyclists and pedestrians every year.

The Minister said: “Northern Ireland, including the north coast, has some breathtaking scenery and there can be no better way to fully appreciate it than by travelling by bicycle. It is also a much healthier and more environmentally friendly way to travel.

“There has been significant investment in the National Cycle Network and the Waterside bridge in Coleraine, which links the network on both sides of the Bann, is a prime example of the excellent facilities that are now available to cyclists.

“To date over 1000 kilometres of the NCN has been provided across Northern Ireland at a cost of around £15 million. The project has been funded by the Millennium Commission, Roads Service the EU Special Support Programme for Peace and Reconciliation and local councils."

The £1.1 million scheme to construct the foot and cycle bridge across the River Bann at Coleraine and to alter the footways on the existing Bann Bridge was completed in June 2001. It is estimated that the bridge carries around 260,000 pedestrians and cyclists each year strengthening the link between the Waterside Community and the rest of Coleraine, as well as linking up the National Cycle Network(NCN) on either side of the River Bann.

The NCN was developed alongside the cycling charity Sustrans (Sustainable Transport) with funding secured from the Millennium Commission European Funding (Peace and Reconciliation Programme) Roads Service and local Councils.

The Millennium Bridge forms an important link in Route 93 of the National Cycle Network, which runs through the Coleraine Borough Council area, as well as the adjacent Limavady Borough and Moyle District Council areas. A substantial part of the funding was provided by a Millennium Commission Grant, through Sustrans the cycling charity.

(MB)