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Communities across the nation – including people in Northamptonshire – voted in force for Sustrans’ Connect2 to win the TV vote to bring £50million from the Big Lottery Fund to create 79 walking and cycling networks for everyday journeys across the UK. 

This week, the £2million project to create four kilometres of walking and cycling routes along Northampton’s canals and the River Nene and replace two aging foot and bike bridges linking the south and west of Northampton to its town centre, is a step closer. Sustainable transport charity Sustrans and its Connect2 partners at Northamptonshire County Council have signed the paperwork that will guide the development for the coming years.

This agreement, a Memorandum of Understanding, confirms partners’ continued commitment to the project and pledges £1million from Sustrans’ Connect2 lottery award to complete the network. This walking and cycling initiative will reconnect residents to the waterside and provide a quick and convenient route away from busy roads into the town centre and other essential destinations. The four kilometre traffic-free greenway is already well on its way to completion and it is hoped that the bridges will be replaced by 2010. The whole route – complete with community artwork, seating areas, lighting and habitat encouraging planting will be finished by 2011.

Sustrans area manager Patrick Davis said: “Once open, this route will create a tranquil traffic-free alternative to the existing busy and congested road crossings over the River Nene for hundreds of everyday journeys by foot and by bike to work, to school and the shops. With nearly 60,000 people living within a mile of the route there’s a real opportunity to boost their health and that of the environment by walking and cycling more often for those local journeys.” Ian Richardson, Ways through Waterside project officer for the Box Moor Trusts said: “the river and canal corridor has for many years been viewed as a backwater and this scheme will help the growing and regenerating town find a new and exciting focus for inward investment, everyday journeys, and recreation with the enjoyment of a wildlife setting." This scheme has been made possible through the enormous popular support for Sustrans’ Connect2 – as voted for by the public in the UK’s largest lottery competition in December 2007. The anticipated cost of the Northampton scheme is £2million, with £1million coming from the Big Lottery Fund as part of Sustrans Connect2, £400,000 from the West Northamptonshire Development Corporation, £100,000 from the East Midlands Development Agency and a new bridge valued at half a million pounds to be delivered via the town’s borough council.

Published on 21st May 2009