Cyclists and pedestrians are now able to use new lanes from Leigh Road in Wimborne to Wimborne Road West in Colehill.

Forming part of the sustainable transport improvements, they are being funded by BCP and Dorset Councils’ £100m + Transforming Cities Fund (TCF) programme..

This section also represents the first completed infrastructure in the TCF programme, which will eventually provide 78km of new cycling lanes, walking paths and improvements to bus services infrastructure across south east Dorset.

Cllr Ray Bryan, Dorset Council’s portfolio holder for Highways, Travel and Environment said: “It is great to see the first section of this major project completed. South east Dorset is one of the most congested regions in the country and we need to start making the change to more sustainable, less polluting forms of transport.  Winning the TCF funding from central government has meant that we can start to put the infrastructure in place to encourage more people to take up active and sustainable forms of transport and to leave their cars at home, particularly for shorter journeys.”

Local cyclist Lynsey Gentry, one of the first people to try out the cycle lane, said: “This cycle lane is really good; the smooth surface is a joy to ride on and it certainly makes me feel a lot safer about riding along this busy road. The fact that I am no longer on the main vehicle road also means I won’t be causing a delay to any cars trying to get past me.”

Once fully completed, the cycle lane will eventually run 2.3km along Wimborne Road West and Leigh Road from the Canford Bottom Roundabout to the Brook Road Junction and will form a branch of the 27km sustainable transport route linking Poole town centre, Wimborne and Ferndown.  It also fills a missing section on the Castleman Trailway, part of the National Cycle Network, which links Dorset to Ringwood and the New Forest.

It will also link important employment, commercial and residential locations across south east Dorset via further TCF schemes on Wimborne Road West and East, Ham Lane and beyond to Ferndown, Poole, Bournemouth and Christchurch town centres.