As part of the Cycling City Project we are proposing to improve the cycling facility along Cumberland Basin Road to enable use in both directions. There is currently a cycle lane marked enabling cyclists to travel out of town from the Pump House at Merchants Road towards the Portway. However for inbound cyclists the route from the Portway is not direct and involves several road crossings. The proposal aims to narrow down the carriageway, improving pedestrian access to the existing footbridge. Plans include improvements to the crossing across Merchants Road to the Pump House.

We welcome your views and comments, which will help inform the design process to be taken forward.

We will contact any respondents to the consultation to let them know how we are taking the project forward.

We received a total of 33 responses to this consultation 15 were fully supportive of the scheme, 14 were negative responses, whilst 4 had elements of positive and negative comment.

The majority of responses that were not in favour of the scheme felt that the scheme did not address the main barrier to walking and cycling in the area outside the Pump House. A formal crossing point of Merchants Road was requested in 15 responses, either a light controlled (toucan) or zebra crossing.

A toucan crossing had been ruled out during the design stages because of the regulations on siting a toucan crossing in close proximity to the bridge wig-wags (flashing red lights).

As part of the consultation, officers attended two site visits and a meeting on 1st December 2009 attended by members of Hotwells and Cliftonwood Community Association, Clifton and Hotwells Improvement Society and Hotwells Primary School Governors to discuss the scheme in more detail. A commitment was given during the meeting on the 1st to look in more detail at the provision of a zebra crossing from the Pump House to Cumberland Basin Road. The inclusion of a zebra crossing will be subject to the necessary design and road safety checks.

During the site visits, a desire line from the harbour side to the open space under the gyratory across Cumberland Basin Road was identified. This has been incorporated into the final scheme design.

It is intended that construction work on the route will commence in early January 2010. Works are set to be split into two phases with the section from the Pump House to the Plimsoll Bridge being constructed first. The second phase to complete the scheme will take place as soon as the adjacent Docks works at Entrance Lock are complete. This is set to be complete by June 2010, so the full route should be open by next summer. A temporary route will be put in place in the intermediary period between the delivery of phases one and two.