Fury as cash-strapped council spends £5.3million upgrading cycle lanes on one of the 'widest and safest' roads in seaside town

Residents of a seaside town have vented their fury over their hard-up council's decision to spend £5.3million of taxpayer cash upgrading cycle lanes on a road described as one of the 'widest and safest' in the area.

Glenferness Avenue, in Bournemouth, Dorset, already has established cycle lanes on both sides.

But millions of pounds is now being spent on widening the paths, re-surfacing them and putting in a step to act as a divider between bicycles and cars.

The cycle lane splurge comes after two new bridges solely for pedestrians and cyclists were installed further along the leafy avenue.

The works have been blasted as a waste of money by local residents and motorists, with the local authority already £251 million in debt.

Some said the cash would be better spent on fixing potholes and improving roads for drivers.

 John James said: 'Glenferness is one of the widest, safest roads in Bournemouth. It has an existing bike lane which is hardly used. 

'It seems this is just a rush to spend government money without proper thought or consultation.

Lorraine Mirams said: 'The money would be better spent on repairing potholes and improving the roads in general for motorists.'

Ian Large said: 'Glenferness Rd already had two substantial cycle lanes, one each side. This is definitely a waste of money.'

And an unnamed resident of Glenferness Avenue claimed hardly any cyclists use the road.

He said: 'It’s a complete waste of money and it’s been hugely disruptive to us.

'The road is wide enough anyway and we don’t really see cyclists going up and down here. And there are existing cycle lanes already.

'They have only spent the money because they have got a grant. The whole road needs resurfacing, but they are not going to do that - it’s ridiculous.'

  Another local said: 'We only have three or four cyclists a day going down this road, it’s a complete waste of money. The problem is the government has given them the money so it’s earmarked.

'The cycle lanes are going to  be two metres wide on each side, so there is now only just enough room for two cars to pass. When the dustbin men or delivery drivers come round and need to stop it just brings everything to a stop.'

Another homeowner said: 'The bridge work had to be done because it wasn’t very safe, that’s fair enough but the lanes didn’t need improving.

'We don’t see anybody cycling here.'  

The project, which will also see more crossings installed, is being funded by the government’s controversial Transforming Cities Fund.

 The project sees grants handed to local councils to improve networks for walking, cycling and ‘wheeling’ and is in response to the climate emergency.

BCP Council and neighbouring Dorset Council have been given £79m, with £5.3m covering the cost of the ‘walking, wheeling and cycling improvements’ in the Glenferness Avenue area.

The area covers one mile from its junction with Talbot Avenue to the north and Bournemouth’s Upper Gardens to the south.

The works have meant the residential avenue has been closed for a month, which has pushed traffic into nearby roads.

But other locals backed the scheme on Glenferness Avenue - which is close to the town’s university and two primary schools - in the hope it will encourage more students to cycle.

Andrew Bright, headteacher of St Mark’s Church of England Primary School, said: 'We are hoping to see a difference in the number of people deciding to actively travel to school on foot, by scooting or by bicycle.

'The improvements will benefit everybody.'

Kate Curtis, headteacher of Talbot Primary School, added: 'With the addition of the new toucan crossing and bridges, our students now have safer routes to school, encouraging more families to embrace walking, cycling and scooting as viable transportation choices.'

Lauren Cannings, travel and transport manager at Bournemouth University, said: 'A number of staff and students have already stopped me to comment on how the works have hugely improved their commute, especially our cycling and walking community who now feel safer travelling along Glenferness Road on their way to and from the campus.'

A spokesman for BCP Council defended the decision to spend the multimillion pound sum on the project.

He said the old cycle lanes were only divided from the road by painted white lines which do not follow new government guidelines.

He added: 'The £5.3m is the cost for the entire length of sustainable travel improvements in the Glenferness Avenue area in Bournemouth from Talbot roundabout to the Upper Gardens.

'£1.43million of this covered the contract cost for the two new cycle and pedestrian bridges over the railway line at Glenferness Avenue. 

'The rest of the budget is for new toucan, zebra and parallel crossings, widened shared walking and cycling paths, junction improvements and cycle lanes.'