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| Cllr A Shotton, Cllr. I Roberts, Richard Flood (Cycling Officer) and the contractors look eastwards from Flint Castle at the first section . |
Chester to Prestatyn Cycle Path
Construction starts on 1st phase
The ancient stones of Flint Castle witnessed yet another historic event in October 2004 when Flintshire County Council began constructing the first phase of a major off-road coastal cycleway.
When completed the Dee Coastal Path will provide over 34 miles of high quality, traffic-free walking and cycling routes along the Dee estuary between Chester and Prestatyn.
The £3.5 million scheme will link residential communities and major employment areas along the River Dee and is specifically designed to encourage walking and cycling to work in order to reduce the impact of road traffic on the environment as well as provide a new long-distance leisure cycling route.
Cllr Alex Aldridge, Leader of Flintshire County council said:
"Our ambitious plan to introduce more first-class cycling facilities in Flintshire has now become reality and the Welsh Assembly government has clearly demonstrated its support by providing significant funding for this scheme. We believe that the Dee Castal Path will provide a major encouragement for more people to use their bikes."
Cllor Aaron Shotton, Executive Member for Transportation, Planning and the Environment, added:
"Encouraging walking and cycling will not only help to reduce our traffic congestion but will also improve our personal health and help people, who may not have access to a car, to get around.
"This project is spread over three years and our first priority is to improve cycle links to our major employment sites in Flint and Deeside."
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| Cllr A Shotton, Cllr. I Roberts, Richard Flood (Cycling Officer) and the contractors look eastwards from Flint Castle at the first section . |
The first phase of the cycle route currently under construction is from Aber Road to Dee Cottages facing Flint castle.
Over the coming months this will be followed by construction work from
the PowerGen entrance in Oakenholt to Dock road in Connah's Quay;
the Chester / Connah's Quay Greenway to Zone 3 of the Deeside Industrial Park; and
Shotton to Chester along the north bank of the River Dee.
The link to Prestatyn will be the final stage. When that is completed, hopefully by 2007 at around the same time as the proposed cycleway through Llandudno and along the Conwy estuary, the two historic walled towns of Chester and Conwy will be linked by a superb, continuous off-road coastal cycle track of 60 miles or so. An exciting prospect indeed.