Council approve £250,000 for Inverness cycle route
Members of The Highland Council’s Finance Housing and Resources Committee have approved a contribution of £250,000 to complete the £638,000 funding package for the Millburn Road Cycle Project in Inverness, which will provide a safe cycle route between the city centre and Inverness Campus at Beechwood.
The contribution will come from the £1,000,000 allowance made in the Council’s capital programme for Carbon CLEVER projects.
Transport, Environment and Community Services are currently examining a potential cycle route which will link to the city centre from the new Inverness Campus via the recently constructed A9 overbridge, Raigmore Housing Estate and Millburn Road. This will provide a significant enhancement to the east-west cycling corridor in Inverness, and enable a dedicated strategic cycle link to Raigmore, Inshes, and Cradlehall, as well as benefiting areas further afield.
Funding of £387,000 has already been secured from a number of sources including the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), Sustrans, HITRANS, as well as contributions from developers through planning consents.
Committee Chairman Councillor Dave Fallows said: “The route is designed to provide a safe and attractive environment for walkers and cyclists which encourages people to consider active travel as an alternative to car travel in order to reduce congestion, reduce pollution, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and encourage health benefits. The Council is currently working towards reducing the amount of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases which are being released into the atmosphere through the Carbon CLEVER Initiative which has the target of a carbon neutral Inverness in a low carbon Highlands by the year 2025.
“Achieving this target will result in multiple benefits including less air pollution, healthier population, more accessible services, stimulated growth, improved infrastructure, and the Highlands will make a significant contribution to mitigate against climate change.”