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Le grand cycle lane: 218 miles from Paris to London
Ruth Bloomfield06.01.09
ONE of Europe's largest cycle paths is set to be created between St Paul's Cathedral and Notre Dame in Paris.
Councils are planning a 218-mile route from Britain to France in time for the London Olympics in 2012.
The multi-million pound path would be mostly free of traffic and is already backed by local authorities on both sides of the channel.
Cyclists on the proposed route will head to the coast via Wandsworth and Croydon. Using existing National Cycle Network routes they will pass through Surrey, and West and East Sussex, crossing the channel via ferry from Newhaven and Dieppe.
In France the new "Avenue Verte" will follow the route of the former Dieppe to Paris railway line.
Robin Reed, principal transport planner at East Sussex county council, told the Standard that the scheme was in its early stages but was widely supported in Britain and France.
He said: "It all started when some French officials came to Sussex to look at a cycle track we had built from Polegate to Heathfield, along the abandoned Cuckoo Line railway track. They were impressed and they went back and did the same thing in France, from Dieppe to Forge-les-Eaux. The idea was you could link the two up using the Newhaven to Dieppe ferry. Then it was decided that the whole thing could be expanded."
Meetings have been held by the British and French councils involved.
Mr Reed estimates that completing the project to a high standard - including branding the track and putting in signposts in both languages - would cost up to £30 million for the British side alone. "It is very ambitious," he admitted, "but if it happened it would be a great thing."
Officials now need to draw up a detailed route map before seeking funding.
Mr Reed said: "Realistically none of the authorities has the money to just pay for this, but there is the potential for European Union funding."
A spokesperson for Boris Johnson said: "The Mayor is always keen to hear ideas that might encourage more people to use two wheels or two feet. Transport for London already provides some funding for Avenue Verte."
The scheme was also welcomed by cycle campaigners. Tom Bogdanowicz, of the London Cycle Campaign, said: "In principle we would welcome an addition to the cycle lanes in this country."
A spokeswoman for Sustrans, the charity which oversees the 10,000-mile National Cycle Network and is involved in developing the route, said it would like to see the project complete by the 2012 Olympics. Darren Johnson, Green member of the London Assembly, said: "Avenue Verte would be a wonderful addition to London's Olympic heritage."
Proposed route from London to Paris Click image for bigger picture and details
Tour de France and Britain ... what you can see
St Paul's Cathedral
Magnificent Baroque church and London landmark designed by Sir Christopher Wren in 1673.
'Cuckoo Line' railway track
Trail through Horam, Hailsham and Polegate offers views of Sussex countryside and chance to visit Polegate Tower Windmill and Hailsham markets.
Glyndebourne
Spectacular 700-year old country house near Lewes which stages the annual opera festival.
Forest Way Country Park
Route from East Grinstead to Groombridge, near 17thcentury moathouse Groombridge Place.
Neufchâtel-en-Bray
Famous farming town on the banks of the river Béthune.
Notre Dame de Paris
The finest example of Gothic architecture in France. First stone was laid in the 12th century.
Reader views (16)
Mind the speed cameras cyclists, the councils will be issuing you with a fine
- Dc, London
Fantastic idea! Hope they sort out the remaining road section of the middle of the Cuckoo trail in Sussex. This is already a great bike route, but an off-the-road middle section would make it properly 'Europe-class' rather than the usual British 'so close to being so much better'.
Ive ridden most of the route on the English side already and it's very picturesque, can't wait til its all finished.
- Simon Raistrick, Dorking, Surrey, UK
I think you'll find it's longer via Calais!
- Paul, London
This is an interesting idea, but since noone suggests that any of the cash is coming out of the Olympic budget, it's yet another desperate attempt to gain credit for the Games 'Legacy' from something that's got absolutely nothing to do with 2012 at all.
PS It does seem rather a long way round to get to Paris: is there no route via Calais?
- Mdj, Leyton, london
To Mr S.Port, London. Why Cardiff?
- Patrick Riley, USA
This is an awesome idea. I'll be checking it out when it's complete. Having said that, I would probably prefer Boris to patch up the bits of road that i have to weave around every day.
- Lloyd, Brixton
Why ? surely the money could be spent on something important or something people actually want !
- Peter Ex Londoner, Hartlepool United Kingdom
Great idea. But the route from Newhaven to London is not quite right, it should go via Cardiff.
- Mr S.Port, London
Great idea, will be taking a trek to Paris as soon as they complete the route.
- Ben, London
Am I the only one wondering why TfL is helping to pay for a cycle route in France?
- James, London
The reason for the twisty bits is that Kent and Sussex have a lot of hills, not a lot of railway lines go uphill.
Northern France is mostly flat with gentle slopes and the french route shadows rivers.
It pays to think sometimes.
Looks a great idea to me.
- Kedge, marlboro wilts
Looks great! The english side is more convoluted, but england is more heavily populated, and there are a quite a few hills to go around. Remember some of its an old railway line - trains don't do hills. DrSusan - the world of internet forums doesn't represent reality! try and ignore the vocal minority and continue to enjoy cycling.
- Dr Pepper, london
That looks like a brilliant route from the French side, an almost straight line. Presumably the town planners designed the English side which, rather splendidly, rather than going from A to B goes via F and L visiting such historic sites as Croydon, Redhill and Crawley, probably best not to ride an expensive bike then.
- Bob, Cheam
Maybe this will shame Croydon Council into making it easy, legal and safe to cycle through the town centre, which is currently a no-go area for cyclists.
- Austen, London
Look at the map. French side, almost a straight line. English side, a twisty turny convoluted meandering tour of Kent. Says it all.
- Stephen Gaines, Hammersmith
A great idea, but we have a long way to go when motorist's lobby campaigns like "safespeed" have posts from supporters that say cyclists deserve to be run over. Nowhere else in Europe has such thuggery and violence towards people who are just trying to get to work. Or Paris!
- Dr Susan Porter, Bow
