§ Mr. Greenway:To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what advice is given by his Department to local authorities about the advisability of cycling on footpaths. [178310]
Mr. Jamiieson:Cyclists have no right to cycle on footpaths and it is illegal to cycle on the footway (the pavement adjacent to the carriageway).
Procedures do however exist to the Highways Act 1980 to convert footways to cycle tracks and in the Cycle Tracks Act 1984 to convert footpaths to cycle tracks.
The decision to convert a footpath or footway to a cycle track is for individual local highway authorities to determine after careful consideration of all the issues. The Department has issued advice on the design and criteria for shared use facilities in Local Transport Note 2/86 "Shared Use by Cyclists and Pedestrians" and, with our partners, in "Cycle-friendly infrastructure" available from the Institution of Highways and Transportation. We are also currently consulting on 696W updated advice in a draft Local Transport Note on "Adjacent and Shared Use Facilities for Cyclists and Pedestrians".
Shared use facilities can have a role to play in providing improved facilities for cyclists but in the main they are best suited to lightly trafficked pedestrian areas, to links in cycle routes or where facilities for cyclists cannot be provided on the road. The conversion of footways and footpaths should not be introduced at the expense of pedestrians and should not be seen as area wide solution to providing improved facilities for cyclists. Local highway authorities should always consult widely on any such proposals at an early stage.