Andy Neison is a strong cyclist, but even he struggles to stay in the saddle while picking his way along a redundant section of highway on the Isle of Skye, overgrown with pine trees and with roots pushing through the crumbling asphalt surface, writes TP Editor Mike Walter.
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Several meters to our left motor traffic speeds by on the main A87 and over to the right is a large beach leading to a bright blue sea. But we are not here just to enjoy the view: Andy is keen to discuss efforts by the local community to clear vegetation from the old road and an ambition to create an all weather cycleway from nearby Skye Bridge towards the town of Broadford, 10km along the coast.
The hope is that the first section of a new ‘Skye Cycleway’ will encourage active travel and lead to an extended network of cycle routes on the island.
“I used to commute 30km by bike twice a week along the A87 and found the road unnerving because of the speed of traffic, despite being an experienced cyclist,” says Andy, who manages a local bicycle hire shop and is the lead volunteer for the community working group. “The road has a peak flow of 3800 vehicles a day, which is quite high for this area, and has a combination of distracted tourists and frustrated locals.”
Andy approached the Broadford & Strath local community company and offered to drive forward the project, seeking funding from Transport Scotland’s low carbon transport and travel fund and from Sustrans’ community links funding programme.
Three volunteer days have been held, each involving up to 40 local people to clear vegetation. Chainsaw operatives have also been drafted in to remove wayward branches. “This path was unwalkable up until last year, so we have made progress, along it is still hard to cycle. As soon as the cycleway opens I am sure people will se it as it will be a more enjoyable way of getting around rather than using the main road.
“Ultimately we want this to be a route that people can travel safety to Broadford by bike. A lot of people want to cycle when they come to Skye – including those who come off the train at Kyle of Lochalsh on the mainland – and the whole island benefits from tourism. When I moved here I didn’t realise how car dependent you are; public transport is found wanting.
“If we can increase choice of travel and improve accessibility, we will attract a bigger and more diverse mix of people to the island. It is a great place to live, but not everyone wants to travel by car.”
To keep up to date with the project, visit facebook.com/SkyeBikeRunWalk/
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