OVER the next two years nearly £5m will be invested in cycling projects in Fife with substantial investment coming to the Cowdenbeath-Lochgelly area.

Building on the good progress made in Kirkcaldy, Fife Council is developing ambitious cycling projects including a Lochgelly to Ballingry route.

The Fife projects receiving this funding are: Cycle Glenrothes - £2.2m, Cycle Dunfermline - £2.2m; Lochgelly to Ballingry cycle route - £240k, and Kirkcaldy cycleway link - £80k.

Features of these projects include: improving existing cycle routes; creating traffic free cycling routes; cycle routes linking up town centres with parks and leisure centres; free cycle training; free bike loan schemes; and more cycle racks.

Lochgelly to Ballingry Cycle Route will Link Lochgelly to Lochore, Crosshill and Ballingry with a safe cycle route providing access to shops, Lochgelly High School, Lochgelly rail station and Lochore Meadows Country Park.

The budget for this project is £120,000 for Financial Year 2014/15 and £120,000 for FY 2015/16.

Councillor Pat Callaghan, Fife Council’s Executive Spokesperson for Environment & Transportation said, “Fife Council has been at the forefront of encouraging people to cycle for over 20 years. We’ve over 350 miles of cycleways, many 20mph residential zones and we are continually encouraging people to cycle more. We support the Government’s vision that 10% of all trips in Scotland will be by bike by 2020. Thanks to the team in Transportation we now have an ambitious cycling programme and the funding to deliver it.

“This is great news for Fife. I hope many more of us get out on our bikes and reap the rewards of a healthier lifestyle.” Earlier this week, Fife Council was awarded £2.445m from Transport Scotland through Sustrans’ Community Link Programmes. The Council is match funding this award, meaning just under £5m will be invested in Fife for cycling projects. Transport Minister Keith Brown said, “I am encouraged by the number of local authorities who have put forward exemplar projects which could make a difference to helping more people to walk and cycle for everyday local journeys. The Scottish Government is committed to investing in cycling infrastructure, training and road safety projects through active partnerships with charities such as Sustrans to make Scotland a more active and healthy nation. This programme will also help to deliver our commitment to the shared vision as reiterated in the Cycling Action Plan for Scotland 2013, that by 2020 10% of all journeys will be by bike.” Work will start soon on the Lochgelly to Ballingry cycle route and the cycleway link in Kirkcaldy.