Six routes in Felixstowe are among 148 paths that have been eyed as priorities for cycle improvements over the next five years, costing well in excess of £80million.

The Felixstowe routes have been identified as part of Suffolk County Council's cross party work on improving cycling and walking:

• Grange Road (Grange Road/ Maidstone Road to Ferry Lane and High Street)
• Princes Road (Sea Road, Mill Lane)
• Beach Station Road (Dock Road roundabout, Sea Road, Sea Front to Undercliff Road)
• Garrison Lane (Undercliff Road to Grove Road)
• High Road (Faulkeners Way to Western Avenue)
• Mill Lane (Mill Lane and Crescent Road to High Road)
• Walton Avenue
• Trimley St Mary to Trimley St Martin

Currently there are no details on what the projects may entail, such as cycle lanes, road or junction redesigns, signs or additional lines. Some projects may be upgrades or improvements while others may be entirely new cycle links.

Suffolk County Council unveiled 20 temporary schemes on Monday which were the first it was seeking feedback on for measures to help people travel by bicycle, which included some road closures to motor vehicles entirely.

It came from work undertaken by a cross-party task force (policy development panel or PDP) at the authority on improving cycling routes, with a full list of 148 priority routes for the next five years having been published ahead of the council's cabinet next week.

Of those, 80 have estimated costs attached to them which totals just over £82m.

The council report said that different funding streams such as housing developer contributions and Department for Transport grants would be assessed in helping fund the projects.

Councillor Andrew Reid, Conservative cabinet member for highways, said: "The work of the PDP has highlighted those schemes that have the potential for getting the greatest number of people out of their cars and onto bikes.

"This includes those strategic routes to key services and places of work and education.

"Our aim is to embed cycling as part of a long-term habit and reap the associated health, air quality and congestion benefits by making permanent changes to the county's cycling infrastructure."

The report stressed that the 148 schemes had not yet been confirmed and "should be viewed as an overall plan of how cycling schemes can be implemented, as funding becomes available, not a programme of works to be delivered on an annual basis."

The cabinet is next week asked to approve measures to begin discussions with district and borough councils on developing the five-year-plan, and pursue detailed feasibility studies of the first 20 schemes announced on Monday including costs, funding sources and estimated timeline for delivery.

The Liberal Democrat, Green and Independent group transport spokesman Robert Lindsay said: "Up to now Suffolk had no proper prioritised plan for cycle routes in the county, just a piecemeal approach which depended on individual communities lobbying for them.

"We really needed to identify what routes had most potential for encouraging people to switch from driving to cycling.

"Once we as a county have a published plan for desired cycle routes, then it is easier to obtain funding for them, either from Government, public bodies, or from developers who want approval for planning applications.

"But the county council should also put its own money where its mouth is and dedicate a proportion of the annual transport budget to cycling infrastructure. We are more likely to attract funding as a county if we can show we are ourselves willing to put some money in to these schemes."

The Labour group's Helen Armitage added: "A lack of safe routes is putting off potential cyclists when we should be encouraging people to leave their cars at home and travel in more sustainable ways.

"Little has been done to reduce the traffic on our roads and congestion is only getting worse. With the funding pots available there is no excuse for failing to deliver these improvements for Suffolk. We must now make sure that detailed proposals are produced, and that they encapsulate all the suggested schemes in one coherent plan, giving us the best chance of successfully bidding for the money needed.

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