County Council KILLS OFF its A47 Long Shoot cycle scheme?
Just a quick thing...
I have chosen not to use adverts, pop-ups, mailing lists, or mandatory subscriptions, but it means there is an ongoing cost for me in researching and writing content, and generally advocating for active travel - time spent not working! If you can throw a few pounds my way to help out, your support is gratefully received! Thank you!
Update: 23 October 2024
Since publishing this article, Warwickshire County Council has tweeted me to say that the scheme has not been cancelled per se, but that it remains paused while it considers next steps and funding options; it is only “the deadline for submitting a Portfolio Holder Decision report [that] has been abandoned.” While this is different to what I had heard from my source, if there is still a possibility that the scheme can go ahead at some point then that is good news.
Original article
Back in December 2023, Warwickshire County Council stated that it had paused development of a mostly separated cycle scheme to run alongside the A47 from its junction with the A5 towards Nuneaton town centre. Now, the Council’s Forward Plan published in October 2024 shows the decision on the scheme as “Abandoned” and it has been confirmed that the Long Shoot portion of the planned route will not be going ahead.
(colouring shading applied for clarity within this article)
The Long Shoot scheme was originally proposed back in 2021 and has been extensively documented on this site. It was to be a 1.4km cycleway to run alongside the A47 between the A5 and the junction with Eastboro Way, providing mostly separated cycling except at two other junctions and the connection with the A5, with cycle priority crossing over other, smaller junctions. The aim was to provide safer active travel linking in with the existing shared use route on the A5 and A47 to/around Hinckley, eventually forming a continuous route to just beyond Nuneaton town centre. With extensive new housing in the area, this would be an important link alongside a road that currently has a 40mph speed limit, numerous pinch points, bad surfacing, and is shared with heavy traffic – not a comfortable place to cycle.
While the Long Shoot section of the route has been cancelled, what was to be the second phase of the broader route towards town along the A47, connecting from the Eastboro Way junction to Leicester Road, does still remain active and under development, though there is currently no update on progress for that section. Importantly, this phase had received funding from Active Travel England, whereas the original Long Shoot section was funded by the County Council.
The abandonment of the Long Shoot section is in the context of a county council that has been given a capability rating of “2/4” for by Active Travel England1 (the same as its 2023 rating); has published a Local Transport Plan which puts an emphasis on walking, wheeling, and cycling; and continues to promote active travel on its social media channels, including by Road Safety Education and Active Travel.
Despite this, reasons given for the decision to stop the Long Shoot scheme include a lack of support from County Councillor Jeff Clarke (Cons, Nuneaton East); some borough councillors; the former Conservative MP for Nuneaton, Marcus Jones; and arguably some local residents who may have been concerned about the loss of road space, including central hatchings facilitating turns on to properties – a point I have argued makes little sense where this isn’t a big issue on other main roads.
Ultimately, it is a motor-centric pushback showing certain drivers unwilling to yield a small amount of space to enable safe active travel for people of all ages and abilities, reduce dependency on driving, give those who cannot drive more independence, and improve the local area in terms of noise and pollution. There appears to have been a lack of local political courage to make a meaningful, beneficial change against what is known to be a vocal minority who cannot see beyond the car – the initial consultation showed overall support for active travel schemes.
When the scheme was first announced, the very same Cllr Clarke was quoted on a County Council news release extolling its virtues. While it is fair to say that opinions can change as plans develop, the following quote was given in February 2021 – the same month that the public consultation was launched which included detailed plans:
I am pleased to see plans coming forward for this much-needed local cycling scheme, which will be an important addition to Nuneaton’s cycle network and continue our work to help people to choose cycling for short local journeys. This scheme will deliver a high quality, safe cycle route on a significant length of the A47 within the town, with plans to ultimately provide a continuous link for cyclists between Nuneaton town centre and Hinckley. Investment in cycling infrastructure will bring a range of benefits to our communities including reduced congestion, improved air quality and health benefits.
This begs the question, was Cllr Clarke aware of the plans before he made his statement, and if not, why not? If he was aware, why has his view changed now? The underlying reasons for building good infrastructure remain as valid today as they did three years ago – perhaps more so as housing developments in the area continue to progress, and it becomes ever clearer that we need to reduce car usage particularly for local journeys.
While the County Council has formally stopped development of the planned Long Shoot cycle scheme, it is in the process of looking at alternatives that might be acceptable. While it’s too early to say what this means at this stage, and assuming the original plans cannot be revived at any point, such options could include:
- Building the cycle scheme using more grass verge space, reducing the impact on the existing road layout. This would involve the sacrifice of mature trees and green space however, with ecological harm as a result not to mention a worsening of the visual appearance of the area.
- Create a back route through fields, as suggested by some respondents to the consultation. However, this has major safety implications due to isolation, as well as hiding cycling away. It would also significantly hinder linking in with new housing estates.
- Finding a back streets route. However, there is no immediately obvious route that doesn’t involve a major diversion away from the A47 or that doesn’t need at least short parts of either end of the Long Shoot route. An indirect, potentially isolated, and hidden away back route would slow down journeys and add distance, reducing the attractiveness of cycling as an alternative to driving for local transport.
These ideas are all speculative at this stage, but it’s hard to see an option that could be as good as a direct, separated cycleway alongside the A47 which is a key travel corridor. Regardless though, nearly four years of work on this scheme has essentially been thrown out, returning to square one. It will be many more years, if ever, before a safe, continuous cycleway linking Nuneaton and Hinckley is realised.
In the meantime, the environment for cycling remains the same as it ever was, as clearly detailed in this consultation comment:
Scary road. Fast traffic, many pinchpoints, many close passes. Hate to think of my son riding to college that way from September.
- “Visible local leadership and support, with emerging network” – https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/66d959112bc43c72b08264a0/local-authority-active-travel-capability-ratings-2024.pdf ↩︎
Have you found this content interesting or useful? If so, and if you are able to, any contributions are greatly appreciated! Thank you! Oh, and do please share with others!
Funny that… I emailed Marcus Jones (MP) in 2022 and among other points, asked him what he is doing to improve cycling conditions in Nuneaton and he replied with “I helped secure government funding for a new cycle route on the Long Shoot, and I will continue to work with the local authority on this matter.”
This would have been a tiny improvement to Nuneaton’s transport system and it hasn’t even happened! The rest of the email included the usual waffle about the government and Marcus Jones doing really well with active travel and that they’re commited to it blah blah blah!
It’s a shame as this would have been a good link between Nuneaton and Hinckley. I continue to be baffled by this country’s transport system and attitude to active travel. I find it crazy that the county council pissed away money on the stupid bridge project near the Griff roundabout yet can barely maintain the existing infrastructure and don’t want to build anything that results in fewer car journeys!
Yes, I’d also written to him about cycling and received the usual words of support, so it was interesting to hear today that he didn’t actually support the Long Shoot route in the end. This scheme shouldn’t have been particularly difficult or controversial – short, no real reduction in road space (excepting the hatchings), so minimal driver impact. If WCC can’t even build a small route like this, there’s not much hope for anything even a bit more complex.