Olympic gold medalist Chris Boardman CBE has helped celebrate the completion of a scheme that creates a new dedicated space for people to safely walk, wheel and cycle in Barrow.
Chris Boardman joined guests at an event to mark the official launch of the Abbey Road active travel route on Wednesday (30 September), in his capacity as the National Active Travel Commissioner for Active Travel England, one of the major funding providers for the scheme.
In 1992 Chris Boardman won Britain’s first cycling gold medal in 72 years when he took individual pursuit gold at the Olympic Games in Barcelona. He went on to have a distinguished professional cycling career, winning three world titles on track and road, breaking several world records and wearing the prestigious yellow jersey three times in the Tour de France.
He became National Active Travel Commissioner in 2022, after working in Greater Manchester as Commissioner under now Prime Minister Andy Burnham, where active travel is at the heart of the region’s Bee Network. Since joining Active Travel England, he has led the agency as it works toward making walking, wheeling and cycling a safe and accessible choice for local, everyday journeys.
Chris Boardman described the Abbey Road scheme, which has been delivered by Westmorland and Furness Council, as a ‘great example of quality active travel schemes serving as a catalyst for regeneration’.
Barrow is benefitting from unprecedented levels of investment through the Team Barrow partnership programme, with Government agreeing to invest more than £200 million in the town over the next 10 years in recognition of the town’s strategic importance to national defence and security.
This investment will be used to help transform the town, delivering improvements across health, housing, education, transport, the economy and community. A re-invigorated and re-modelled town centre is seen as key to these ambitions.
Better active travel options such as the new Abbey Road scheme and recently completed North Walney route support these objectives in Barrow, by connecting residential areas with major employment and education sites such as BAE Systems, Furness General Hospital, the new University of Cumbria campus, Furness College and the town centre, as well as allowing better access to green spaces and the coast.
Chris Boardman said: “Abbey Road is a great example of quality active travel schemes serving as a catalyst for regeneration. Giving people the option to walk, wheel or cycle to the places they need to be is central to developing healthier, better-connected communities.
“This scheme shows exactly what's possible when local voices help shape the design from the outset. It's brilliant to see this kind of investment sitting alongside the wider ambitions of Team Barrow, and it will play a huge role in allowing more people in the town to make walking, wheeling and cycling part of their everyday journeys.’’
The Abbey Road scheme – which runs from Ramsden Square to the junction of Park Drive - was shaped by the views of local residents, following a public consultation in 2023.
Designed with minimal changes to existing traffic lanes to avoid disruption to journey times for those travelling by motor vehicle, new active travel lanes have been created within the existing wide pavements on both sides of Abbey Road, to provide cyclists and pedestrians with their own safe space separate from motorists. The cycle lanes run behind the bus stops, with mini ‘zebra crossings’ provided for pedestrians to access public transport.
To enhance safety and ease of movement, all junctions along the route have been upgraded, more convenient crossing points for pedestrians and cyclists included and improved lighting installed along route, including new heritage lighting columns.
The Abbey Road project is part of the council’s wider commitment to make active travel the natural choice for everyday journeys, improving health and connecting communities more sustainably. It builds on other recent active travel investments in Barrow following the completion of the North Walney Active Travel Route and has been funded by Active Travel England’s Fund 3 and the Brilliant Barrow Town Deal Fund.
Chris Boardman and other guests at the launch event, including local councillors and representatives from Team Barrow and Brilliant Barrow, walked along Abbey Road to see the key features on the new route. They then joined the start of a community walk and bike ride, setting off from Barrow Park, involving local cycling and walking groups, BAE staff and children from Ramsden Infant School.
Councillor Adrian Waite, Westmorland and Furness Council’s Cabinet Member for Environmental Services and Transport, said: “It is wonderful to have the Abbey Road scheme completed and to see people enjoying using the entirety of the new route for walking, wheeling and cycling.
“The new active travel schemes we’ve now completed on Abbey Road and Walney are an important part of helping to make travelling around the town safer, more sustainable and more accessible for everyone and to contribute to the Team Barrow vision of a transformed town centre.
“With thousands of extra jobs being created in the shipyard, new students arriving at the university and more people being attracted to live, work and study in Barrow, these are exciting times for the town and we need to consider carefully how people will move around Barrow in the future.
“Giving more people the opportunity to choose walking, wheeling and cycling for everyday journeys will help to ease traffic pressures and will play an important role in building healthier, happier and more environmentally friendly communities."
Steve Cole, CIO and Operational Improvement Director at BAE Systems and Chair of the Brilliant Barrow Town Deal Board, said: "All the Brilliant Barrow projects collectively build on our economic strengths, rich industrial heritage, natural beauty and sense of community to develop our town to be the place of choice - a great choice to live, study, work and visit and home to a healthy population that can deliver a prosperous, inclusive and fair future.
“It is fantastic to see the Abbey Road project completed, contributing to the wider vision of creating a network of safe, attractive, and well-connected routes across Barrow, improving overall levels of health and wellbeing while also reducing emissions from vehicles – contributing to fresher air and a cleaner environment."
Ian Burns, Delivery Director (Future Workplace) at BAE Systems Submarines, said: “BAE Systems is very supportive of the active travel initiative to improve cycle lanes in Barrow.
“Within BAE Systems we are encouraging and promoting a significant modal shift in how people travel to and from work and cycling forms an important element within our strategy.
“Cycling offers a healthy, environmentally friendly, and community-friendly mode of travel and the new cycle lanes are a positive development to help more of our colleagues consider cycling as a viable travel to work mode.
“We look forward to working with the local authority and partners on all aspects of Active Barrow.’’
Contractor Thomas Armstrong (Construction) Ltd completed the Abbey Road contract on behalf of Westmorland and Furness Council.
Paul Osborne, Civil Engineering Manager for Thomas Armstrong, said: “Thomas Armstrong are delighted to have successfully completed the Abbey Road scheme and to have played our part in delivering a project that provides a lasting benefit to the local community.
“From the outset, our focus was on delivering the scheme safely, efficiently and to a high standard, while maintaining close collaboration with the client, local stakeholders and our supply chain. We are proud to have successfully delivered the project to the required high standards and programme.
“As a Cumbrian contractor with over 180 years of experience, it has been especially rewarding to deliver a scheme within our local community. Throughout the project we have continued to support the local workforce and supply chain, helping to retain investment within the area and reduce the environmental impact associated with the works.
“We also remain proud of the social value delivered through the project and the positive contribution the scheme will make to the local community. The completed route provides improved facilities for walking and cycling and demonstrates how investment in active travel can deliver long-term benefits for residents and the wider area.
“We would like to thank the client, our supply chain and everyone involved in the project for their hard work, collaboration, and support in helping us deliver a successful scheme.’’