Cycle networks: Case studies and resources for local government

This week, we’re showcasing some of recent, impressive cycle network projects and developments, alongside resources to help you rethink and plan your own active travel infrastructure. Examples come from France, China and the U.S.

Have your own example to share, get in touch!

Inspirational cycle networks from across the globe

FRANCE: New 170-mile cycle network links less visited parts of the country
La Régalante is France’s newest cycle route, comprising freshly linked greenway trails and back roads across less-visited areas in Brittany and the Atlantic Loire. The route, which stretches from Nantes to Mont-Saint-Michel, journeys through historic villages, pastoral farmlands and historic abbeys and windmills. The project is a collaboration between three regional governments with the aim to boost tourism in under-visited France. The route has its own website with maps, recommended accommodation and train information, and is heavily signposted along the way.
The Guardian

USA: Project surrounds Atlanta with walking and cycling paths
Atlanta is home to the BeltLine, wooded walking and cycling paths that encircle the city, built on former railway corridors. The 22 mile project was completed in 2022 and features tributaries to historic neighbourhoods and parks along the way. Under development since 2005, the BeltLine connects 45 neighbourhoods, and was designed to help reconnect communities and areas historically divided and marginalised by infrastructure. The paths feature numerous commercial and cultural amenities, including art galleries, restaurants, and cultural programs.
Atlanta Beltline

CHINA: World’s longest greenway planned to create “Park City”
Chengdu, China has seen rapid economic growth in recent years. With this has come increased urbanisation and a decrease in green spaces. To address this, local authorities have launched a hugely ambitious active trail project, aiming to create the world’s longest greenway. The planned network will span close to 20,000 kilometres, as part of a wider aim to convert the Chengdu into a “Park City”, creating a lush environment for 20 million residents by 2025. The greenway is hoped to connect citizens with the city’s natural spaces, alongside its numerous cultural and historic landmarks. Full construction is expected to be completed by 2045.
World Cities Culture Forum

USA: New Orleans bike path attracts hundreds of millions of dollars in investment
The “Crown Jewel” of the City of New Orleans cycling network, the 2.6 mile Lafitte Greenway, has become an unlikely place for a new social scene. While originally a transportation greenway, the greenway, which cuts between disparate communities both rich and poor, has become a focal point of local bike culture and has attracted attention from developers. Since its launch, the city has approved path-side bars, sports and art facilities and playgrounds along its route. The revamp of the greenway has coincided with an uptick in cycling locally; with the city now ranking in the top 10 nationwide for residents who cycle to work each day.
Bloomberg

Resources on cycle networks

Resource: High Line Network
This website is founded by Friends of the High Line, a group that shares resources and strategies for successfully creating new urban greenways around the country and the world.

Tool: Spider bike maps
This idea asks what if maps for bike infrastructure were redesigned as if the lanes, trails, and paths constituted a connected transit system? Examples include places across the U.S as well as London.

Guide: Walking and cycling infrastructure design guidance
This guidance from Sustrans pulls together high-quality UK design guidance for walking and cycling infrastructure. It is grouped into themes, including regional specific guidance and best practice. It is designed to help decision-makers and planners who are working on delivering their own walking and cycling infrastructure.

Resource: Safe Cycling Routes Toolkit
This new toolkit has launched in Europe by Interreg as a modular interactive online decision-making support tool to guide users through the process of defining new cycling routes and improving the safety of existing routes for cyclists. The toolkit is an outcome of a 3-year project tackling cycling infrastructure safety issues on existing, planned and missing cycling corridors across Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czechia, Hungary, Moldova, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia in the Danube region.

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