The new cycle path in Bristol set to connect a city centre park with an old railway path

A new cycle path that connects one of Bristol’s most popular city centre parks with an old railway path will begin this summer.

The ‘Old Market Gateway’ route will be built to join up the missing links between the end of the Bath Railway Path through Old Market to Castle Park and Baldwin Street.

Currently cyclists can ride on segregated routes from the city centre, through Baldwin Street and Castle Park to the Old Market roundabout, but then there is no clear route joining up with the Railway Path, which runs through the east of the city all the way to Bath.

After the Old Market roundabout, the new cycle path will go down Redcross Street, Braggs Lane and Trinity Street before joing the existing cycle path in St Philips.

Bristol has received a £3.6 million boost from the government to make walking and cycling safer and easier. The extra cash will be spent on five new projects in the city centre, Knowle West, Old Market and Bedminster, as well as new cycle hangars to prevent bicycle theft.

City Hall bosses admitted Bristol’s cycling routes were “very patchy” but said this new funding would fill in some of the missing links. Of the new cash, £259,000 will be spent on developing the Old Market Quietway, linking up the Bath Railway Path and Castle Park.

Three other schemes will be drawn up with the new funding, which comes from the Department for Transport’s active travel fund, in Filwood, Deanery Road, and the Malago Greenway. A further £1,655,000 will be spent on construction in the Old City and on King Street.

Across the wider West of England region, £915,599 will be spent on cycle hangars, to help residents safely store their bicycles, although it’s unclear how much will be spent in each part of the region. Bristol City Council’s cabinet welcomed the new cash.

The bid was submitted in February this year, and is the fourth tranche of the active travel fund.

Labour Councillor Don Alexander, cabinet member for transport, said walking and cycling helped cut congestion, make people healthier, and tackle climate change.

He said: “Bristol faces several transport, health and environmental challenges. Our priority is to identify funding for schemes that help reduce congestion, improve health outcomes and contribute to our objective of being net carbon zero by 2030. Walking and cycling initiatives are one of the most effective means of meeting these goals, offering several benefits beyond safer and more reliable transport connections.”