Dover: River Dour Cycle Route
Route
This route will link Dover town centre with the neighbouring Buckland area.
Length: about 2 km.
KCC Website
The planned development of this route, along with the schedule for public consultation, is fully described in this website by Kent County Council.Maps
- OpenCycleMap
- Google map
- Ordnance Survey map (offers scale of 1:50000) or alternatively StreetMap (offers scale of 1:25000).
- A detailed map of the route is shown on page 3 of River Dour Cycle Route: Public Consultation (source).
Rationale
Currently the one way road system in Dover is seen by many cyclists as too busy to be safe, especially for children, resulting in people choosing to cycle on the pavements. The Dover District Cycle Plan identified a route following the River Dour from Buckland to the Seafront as of key importance to the town in providing a safe, near traffic free route linking residential areas with the town centre also complimenting regeneration of parts of the town. This route would also form the important backbone of a Dover Town cycle network for future cycle routes from Whitfield and River to link into and on to the national cycle network on the seafront.
From the River Dour Cycle Route: Public Consultation (source).
History
- November 2008: Proposed as a possible route in section 4.2 and in section 9 of the Dover District Cycling Plan (Nov 2008).
- January 2010: Proposal for this route put out for public consultation by Kent Highway Services.
Funding, sponsors and supporters
The construction of this route will be funded by a combination of Kent County Council's integrated transport budget and matched funding from Sustrans.
What the Dover District Cycling Plan (Nov 2008) said
4. Creating New Links
New cycle routes must connect to existing cycle routes, extending cycle networks both within the urban areas of Dover, Deal and Sandwich and from many of the district villages to the town centres, as shown on the Proposals Maps in Section 9. In Dover this will involve establishing a main spinal cycle route - ‘River Dour Cycle Path’. This cycle path will link River to the seafront along the Dour Valley. It is intended that ‘tributary’ cycle routes could link to this spinal route in order to reduce the gradient for cyclists throughout Dover. Opportunities for linking to the Public Rights of Way network will also be considered.
From the Dover District Cycling Plan (Nov 2008) (source).
Present state of the route
Mostly follows existing, low-traffic roads.Next move
The period of public consultation ends on 5 March 2010. Thereafter, the detailed design will be progressed, taking into consideration the feedback from this consultation.
Planning permission will have to be sought for the proposed new bridge for cyclists across the river at Buckland.
Latest news
The Spokes blog carries the latest news for this route.