Our 2020 vision for a cycle-friendly Hayling

So Cycle Hayling is 10 years old, and what a year to start our next 10 years.

Help us now to build our 2020 vision of what cycling should be like on Hayling.

Safe, pleasant, everyday cycling, for everyday journeys, in everyday clothing, by everyday people of ALL ages, and ALL abilities.

Tell us what is needed, and where. Help us set priorities. Help us to help our councillors and MP fight for the funding to do it.

If the Covid-19 lockdown has taught us one-thing, it’s that plenty of us want to cycle, and stay healthy doing it. And when the roads were empty of cars, and everyone could cycle safely, we filled them up with bikes – 2 or 3 times as many as before. It was a dream!

Now the roads are filling up with cars again, that dream has turned back to the old nightmare for all but the hardiest cyclists. The shocking truth is that in 2020, Hayling Island does not have safe, smooth, traffic-free, all-weather cycle paths where most people want to go. Most cycle paths we have are rough, muddy in the rain, and often too narrow to pass anyone at all, let alone with social distancing and safety. And we’re still building them that way!

No ‘Safe Routes to School’ for our children. Some of the most congested school entrances in Hampshire. No signed quiet routes. No good cycle route to and from the bridge.

The Billy Trail from Langstone into Havant is the best cycle path in Hampshire. Why can’t Hayling have paths like that?

Well, maybe now it can. Covid-19 has changed the world. And now, so has Boris Johnson – see our 20 ways the government Gear Change for cycling and walking has blown us away!

Cities and towns all over the UK and the world are rushing to make safer space for cycling. Even Portsmouth. People have seen what traffic-free cycling is like, and they’re not going back.

And now we need to do the same for Hayling – here are some things we could do :

  • Signpost quiet routes.
  • Protected cycle lanes, nibbling road or pavement space as necessary.
  • A top speed limit across the island of 30 mph, and 20 mph in all residential streets, and through villages such as Mengham, West Town and Northney. If Portsmouth can do it, why not Hayling?
  • Low-traffic neighbourhoods to eliminate rat-runs and claim back streets for people, not for cars.
  • Make our school entrances traffic-free.
  • And of course, Haylink, a safe, traffic-free, all-weather cycle path to link the north and south of Hayling, avoiding the war zone that is the main road.
  • But most of all – keep cycling to show councillors what we need.

We had hoped to be able to announce some major steps forward, but we need more time to get agreement – watch this space!

Sign up now, and send in your ideas here, or on our Facebook page.

Even better, join our campaign committee and help to create the cycle-friendly Hayling we all want.

Now is the time! If not now, when? Are you with us?