Infrastructure Minister Kevin Lewis released the Sustainable Transport Policy at the end of last year and believes that the recent upsurge in the number of people getting on their bikes during the pandemic has proved the need to re-evaluate the Island’s cycle networks.
‘Covid-19 has halted our work but we’re still determined to improve our Island’s infrastructure. We inherited part of the former railway route, which extends all the way to Havre des Pas, and we want to progress throughout the east and work on our cycling network within St Helier.’
Mr Lewis believes it is essential to make safer routes for children walking and cycling to school.
‘Our safer-routes-to-school project aims to break the vicious cycle whereby too many cars from a lack of cycling means that parents feel it is unsafe for their kids to cycle to school. To break this we must make cycling safe everywhere and for everyone.’
The use of bikes significantly increased during the lockdown period as Islanders turned to cycling during their permitted daily exercise period. The introduction of the EVieBike rental scheme has seen more users on the roads and more people encouraged to purchase electric bikes themselves.
EVieBike director Gavin Breeze said that the company now had 3,800 users of their app and were expecting up to 5,000 by the end of the year. He said that he hoped this could act as an incentive for a vast improvement in the Island’s cycling routes.
‘We are beginning to explore how 5,000 people can become representative of the interest they have declared in cycling by renting one of our bikes,’ he said. ‘We want to turn these people into activists and give them a voice to show the importance of safe cycling.’
Mr Breeze wants the green-lane network to operate throughout the Island, with green-lane ‘bridges’ to join up every parish. He said this was highly reliant on ‘Constable support’.
‘Now is the perfect time for action. Getting cyclists off the main roads not only benefits them but helps car users. We are currently exploring with the National Trust the deployment of new green lanes.’
