Warwickshire County Council is still unsure when the Kenilworth to Leamington Cycleway will be finished - more than a year after agreeing to the project.

Speaking at yesterday's full council meeting Cllr Wallace Redford said he was also unable to say when building the cycle route would even begin.

"I have got to be absolutely honest with members, it is very difficult at this time to give you any sort of firm date for a start of the project," the portfolio holder for transport and planning said.

"All I can say is, as soon as I get information that we are ready to go with this project I will make sure that members are contacted straight away."

Cllr Redford's words came after Kenilworth councillor Cllr Tracey Drew asked for an update on the £4.75million route.

"WCC has stated that Kenilworth to Leamington Cycleway is a priority yet progress seems to have stalled," she said.

Adding: "I just urge that this is kept on the agenda.

"I know one of the goals was for the Commonwealth Games, clearly that is not going to happen now so I would welcome any information you have got to go forward."

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With the budget approved in 2020, the 5km cycleway was given the green light fully by councillors last January, but WCC is yet to finish the design.

Cllr Redford said surveys had been completed along the route and that options were being considered for the new bridge over the River Avon.

Compulsory land purchases also need to be completed before construction can begin.

"All these challenges that we have got with these are taking time and it is very important that we get it right," he added.

"This is a very important project and it is going to take a bit longer than we originally thought.

"The complexity and the scope of having the pedestrian cycle bridge across the Avon has caused quite a few significant problems."

Action is needed

Other local councillors have already called on WCC to speed up the process.

Speaking at February's Warwick District Council meeting, Cllr Andrew Milton said the current route to Leamington from Kenilworth was too dangerous.

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"Many residents and councillors campaigned vigorously over 30 years plus to make the Kenilworth to Leamington cycle route a reality and there was therefore much satisfaction when finally in 2020 the budget to make this come to fruition was agreed by the county council," he said.

"But since then nothing – no visible progress and no spades in the ground. And according to the [county] council leader this week, we probably have another four to five years to wait despite a cabinet report that has construction finishing next year.

"I have survived 18 months of commuting from Kenilworth to Leamington on my bike. In that time I have had close passes that have been far too many to count, I've been genuinely scared on four or five occasions and I've had one that I can only describe as a near death experience."

(Header image by Elliot Brown via geograph.org.uk)