Question reference: S6W-25040
- Asked by: Colin Smyth, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
- Date lodged: 31 January 2024
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Current status: Answered by Patrick Harvie on 28 February 2024
Question
To ask the Scottish Government when it plans to publish proposals for improvements to active travel opportunities between Cairnryan and Stranraer.
Answer
The second Strategic Transport Projects Review (STPR2), published in December 2022, recommended a series of active travel interventions to encourage and sustain a rise in active travel across Scotland. For the South West Scotland this built on earlier work done as part of the South West Scotland Transport Study, published in January 2020, that proposed the development of Strategic Active Travel Network in the South West of Scotland to better connect communities to key destinations with cycle paths parallel to trunk roads and improvements to the National Cycle Network (NCN).
Although the Scottish Government has had no direct involvement in any scheme to extend the NCN route 73 between Stranraer and Cairnryan, Transport Scotland has funded Sustrans with £18.4 million in 2023-24 to continue development of the National Cycle Network. The NCN in Scotland is managed by Sustrans who gave intentions to explore improvements to NCN 73 in the south west which are included within Sustrans’ 30 year National Cycle Network Plan.
The active travel budget is currently supporting infrastructure being delivered by Transport Scotland on the trunk road network to encourage modal shift and to improve active travel connectivity. As part of this, Transport Scotland is currently investigating the feasibility of a new shared use path along the A77 from the south of Cairnryan to the A77/ A751 junction.
Background information required for the design of this shared use path is currently being gathered. Transport Scotland’s operating company Amey requires to carry out vegetation clearance in advance of a topographic survey, subject to environmental investigations. Land purchase will also be required, and this can only commence once the design has identified the full land extent necessary.
Construction between the A751 and Cairnryan is currently programmed for the fourth quarter of FY24/25. This is however subject to available budgets and conclusion of the land purchase which may delay construction. Subject to available ongoing funding, Transport Scotland will investigate the upgrading of the existing path from Stranraer to the A751.