Places for Everyone aims to make walking, wheeling, and cycling a safe and everyday option for children and young people across Scotland. Through smart intuitive designs and strategic route planning, the Walk Cycle Live Stirling project is doing exactly that.
Places for Everyone is working with partners across Scotland to ensure that the routes we deliver are accessible and intuitive for all ages and abilities. Credit: Alan McAteer/Sustrans
Making it easier and safer for people to travel actively is vital for increasing the number of everyday walking, wheeling, and cycling journeys.
This means ensuring that everyone, including groups of people who are most vulnerable on the road, are adequately protected. This includes children and young people.
Places for Everyone is working with partners across Scotland to ensure that the routes we deliver are accessible and intuitive for all ages and abilities.
The Walk Cycle Live Stirling project is an excellent example of how bold yet careful designs can be used to prioritise the needs of young Scots.
Routes to success
Children and young people regularly make essential active journeys as part of their everyday lives.
From going to and from school to seeing friends and family, walking wheeling and cycling are the earliest available modes which allow children and young people to travel independently.
Currently under construction, the £9.5 million Stirling project will soon deliver an extensive network of new walking, wheeling, and cycling links across the city.
This will not only facilitate more active journeys between residential areas, transport hubs, as well as retail and hospitality venues but also key destinations for education and learning.
Designed with young people in mind
Delivered in partnership with Stirling Council, Walk Cycle Live Stirling proposes to create two major routes:
Route one: Dubbed the University route, will provide a safe and accessible route between Stirling Train station and the University of Stirling, taking in iconic landmarks like Old Stirling Bridge and the National Wallace Monument along the way.
Route two: the College Route, aims to bridge the gaps between Forth Valley College and the City Centre along Albert Place, Dumbarton Road and Raploch Road, passing under the impressive shadow of Stirling Castle.
Each of these strategic corridors has been designed to be largely segregated from the traffic via physical barriers, providing comfort and reassurance for all users.
Generational change
Healthier than other modes, travelling by bike is also often cheaper more affordable than public transport and private vehicle use.
Factors such as these are ones which young adults, in particular, benefit from.
Alex Avallone, a recent graduate from the University of Stirling, shared their thoughts on what the project could mean for current and prospective students in the years to come.
They said: "I didn’t cycle much when I was studying, mostly because the roads were too busy and I didn’t feel confident doing so. I took the bus or walked.
"Now, I hope a lot of people will think twice and choose to cycle instead."
Walking wheeling and cycling are the earliest available modes which allow children and young people to travel independently. Credit: Alan McAteer/Sustrans
Katherine Henebry, Senior Grant Advisor at Sustrans, has been working on Walk Cycle Live Stirling throughout its construction, and has high hopes for its grand opening.
She said: "After completion, children and young people can safely travel independently along two key corridors in Stirling.
"These routes are a new start for foundational memories to be made – on the journey to school, as well as in the broader exploration of their hometown’s rich history and environment.
"We’re so proud to have worked with Stirling Council to make these journeys a reality."
Connecting communities
Due be complete by Summer 2024, Walk Cycle Live Stirling is set to connect communities in the city and surrounding areas through active travel in a major way.
This will be particularly transformative for children and young people.
The project received £7.1 million in funding from Places for Everyone, as well as £2.5 million of Scottish Government investment from the City Region Deal and £258k from Stirling Council’s developer contributions allocation.
