Cycling and Walking in Dudley

The WMCA has an ambitious plan to raise cycling investment to at least £10 per person each year to give a total ten-year investment of £283m.

The current cycling network across the West Midlands includes over 342 miles of canal towpath, greenways, and National Cycle Network including multiple on-road segregated cycle paths.

In 2011 just 1.7% of journeys in the region were by bike, but Transport for West Midlands (TfWM) has set a target to raise this to 5% by 2023. A detailed Action Plan outlines the key activities that will be undertaken to achieve this target.

We are working with partner organisations to encourage cycling and walking across the region. With Cycling UK, we plan to develop community cycling clubs and through Living Streets we will engage with schools to encourage walking to school.

One example of a fantastic WMCA-led scheme is the award-winning Cycle Crime Action Plan. The Action Plan focuses on five key areas - enforcement, engagement, education, environment and evaluation.

This includes bike marking sessions in partnership with the Safer Travel team, the sale of D-locks and the deployment of decoy tracker bikes.

So far, £23m has been allocated to the West Midlands Cycling Programme from the Transforming cities fund. £2m of additional funding has been allocated to the Better Streets Community Fund, which local authorities are able to bid for to improve local cycling infrastructure. In addition to this, £6.3m has been spent on reviving the Black Country canal network to make it more accessible to cyclists.

We will continue to work with partners to deliver the improvements to cycling provisions and build business cases for future cycling investment in the region. You can find out more on our website.

Cycling and Walking Network in Dudley

Community Cycle Clubs

A Cycling Development Officer through Cycling UK is in post to develop a network of community cycling clubs. The clubs actively encourage physical activity and link communities to regular use of local cycling infrastructure.

Clubs in Dudley are:

• Age UK Cycling over 50 CCC
• Brockmoor Community Cycle Club

Managing Short Trips Canal Towpath Scheme

Activities, maps and launch

• £4.2 million invested by the Black Country LEP for Managing Short Trips
  (tranche 2)
• A further £6.3 million was invested in Black Country canals in 2016

Upgrading of 12 miles of canal towpath between Wolverhampton and Birmingham by TfWM, the Black Country Local Authorities, Black Country Local Enterprise Partnership and Canal & River Trust has now been completed and promotional activities are currently being delivered.

Cycling and Walking Network in Dudley

TfWM and the 7 constituent local authorities have developed the West Midlands LCWIP with a prioritised programme of investment in cycling and walking infrastructure improvement.

Routes identified in Dudley are:

Phase 1

• Metro – Brierley Extension

Phase 2

• A4123

Phase 3

• Coseley to Tipton (via NCN 81)

Phase 4

• Kingswinford to Brierley Hill via B4179

Cycle Crime in Dudley

TfWM continue to deliver our award-winning Cycle Crime action plan focusing on 5 key areas of enforcement, engagement, education, environment and evaluation to combat cycle theft at stations. This includes bike marking sessions (Love Your Bike) in partnership with the Safer Travel team, the sale of gold standard d-locks and the deployment of decoy tracker bikes.

Cycle Storage delivered by West Midlands Trains

West Midlands Trains are delivering over 400 cycle parking spaces across rail stations in the West Midlands. Stourbridge cycle parking  (near ticket office) is being upgraded to increase capacity of spaces for customers to park their cycle. 

Station Travel Plans

WMT trains are leading on Station Travel Plans (STPS) across the WMRE franchised rail network, including the West Midlands over the next 3 years. Over 50 locations are in the West Midlands and three have been identified as requiring an STP in Dudley, including Stourbridge Junction/Town and Coseley.

Wheels for all

Working with Wheels for All, Active Black Country and Local Authority partners we are developing a bid for Sport England to fund a Black Country Wheels for All programme with an ambition to expand the Wheels for All Centre in each of the West Midlands Local Authorities, and specifically Dudley.