Cycling on busy main roads in both urban and rural areas can be a daunting experience for all but the fittest and most confident cyclists. Provision of a high quality network of safe, direct, and continuous cycle routes is therefore key to encouraging more people to take up cycling, both for leisure and as a primary mode of transport. Over the years Bath & North East Somerset (often in partnership with cycling charity Sustrans) has worked to create such a network, and continues to programme new improvements every year.

Cycling infrastructure takes many shapes and forms. Lengthy off-road paths, often constructed along disused railway lines, are popular with leisure and commuter riders alike, and are especially suitable for novice riders and young families. Bath & North East Somerset enjoys an excellent off-road cycle network. With the Two Tunnels circuit in Bath as its hub, routes strike off to Bristol in the west, the Kennet & Avon Canal in the east, and to Radstock (and in the near future, Frome) to the south.

Minor roads in both urban and rural areas provide attractive, quiet routes for cyclists, however by their nature tend to be obscure, so these routes are enhanced by comprehensive cycle direction signing to allow riders to follow them with confidence.

Urban roads can present many barriers to cyclists, with one way streets, closed roads, busy junctions, and even steep hills, causing riders to make wide detours, or choose to not ride at all. In some cases a very localised piece of work, such as a contraflow cycle lane in a one way street, or a cycle-only link through a road closure, provides a missing link in the network which then unlocks a latent desire for many people to use the route, who otherwise may have chosen not to cycle.

The links on this page will introduce you to the main elements of the existing infrastructure, and also outline future proposals. New infrastructure developments are posted on the Latest News page.

     1) Bristol to Bath Path  

     2) Two Tunnels Project 

     3) Colliers Way 

     4) Kennet and Avon Canal

     5) Chew Valley Lake Circuit

     6) Radstock to Midsomer Norton 

     7) Five Arches 

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