Cardiff Council want rugby fans to cycle to Wales’ opening Six Nations game against Scotland tomorrow.
The call comes as the council start work on new lanes which will separate cyclists from vehicles as part of a plan to make travellers more active.
As usual, a number of city centre roads will close to vehicles on match day, and in a press release announcing the traffic plans, the council said: “Those who live locally in Cardiff may want to travel by bicycle or walk.
“Research shows us that 52% of car trips made in the Welsh capital are less than 5km (3miles). This is a distance that can be comfortably cycled in 20 minutes.
But cyclists say there aren’t enough bike parking spaces for fans on match day.
Ian Perry, who is a member of the group Cardiff Cycling Campaign, says the council would need to do more to encourage people to travel by bike to games.
“Where are you supposed to park it?” Mr Perry said. “Are you supposed to lock it to a lamp post with lots of people pushing by it?
“No one’s really watching what’s going on, so your bicycle could be knocked over, damaged, stolen. They need a plan, and they’ve got no plan. They have lots of consultations and they ask lots of opinions but they don’t actually think things through.”
The council began work on a new system this week, which will see segregated lanes for cyclists. It starts with a trial 300m stretch of Maes-y-Coed Road near Heath, with the building of physical barrier to stop vehicles from entering the cycle lane. The work is expected to be finished next month.
Cllr Caro Wild, who is the Cabinet Member for Strategic Planning and Transport says:
“There’s clearly a lot more work to be done to realise our vision of making Cardiff a world-class cycling city, but these pilot schemes, show that cycling really is at the heart of our transport plans for Cardiff.”
