The hugely-popular Keswick to Threlkeld Railway Trail – which generates an estimated £15.5m in spending every year – could be extended by around half a mile as part of long-term goals to get more Lake District visitors out of their cars.
Officials want more routes to provide “easy, safe and accessible walking, wheeling, cycling and horse-riding”.
The runaway success of the 3.1-mile path is one of only three routes in Cumbria being put forward for feasibility funding from the Borderlands Growth Deal.
Ideas include adding a half-mile extension all the way to the national park’s northern headquarters at the Old Station Yard, Threlkeld, and then potentially also running to St John’s-in-the-Vale and linking to the west side of Thirlmere and the cycle path over Dunmail Raise down to Grasmere – creating a giant Lake District route.
It comes as new county council figures show that the £7.9m Keswick Trail:
- Generates £15.5 million in spending;
- More than half-a-million journeys were notched up in its first 12 months;
- 12,219 journeys are made on the trail that would otherwise be made by road;
- 3,244 journeys are by people going to and from work.
The proposed extension – subject to funding for a feasibility study – would see the trail going under the A66, across Burns Road and down the B5332, and onto the public car park at the national park authority’s northern office at the Old Station Yard, Threlkeld.
Infrastructure improvements for cyclists could also be made on the Bassenthwaite Trail, Derwentwater, the west and east sides of Thirlmere, although any such schemes would be dependent on funding being forthcoming.
The idea of extending the trail was this week welcomed by Peter Walter, chairman of the Keswick Tourism Association.
Mr Walter said: “The trail is a huge asset to the town and we are very excited about extending it. With 14 per cent of visitor groups comprising someone with health or mobility issues the trail’s accessibility helps us to make the Lakes a park for all. With 30,000 downloads a year, the trail is one of the most popular routes on our website.
Tony Lywood, the county councillor for Keswick, said the idea was a great one if the money could be found.
“More people on bikes and walking has to be good,” he said.
However, councillors have urged caution in any attempt to have pedestrians crossing the busy A591 at Legburthwaite where vehicles regularly hit high speeds.
Mr Lywood added: “The real moral of this story is that while nearly all new bike trails should be welcomed, such initiatives will obviously increase the numbers of tourists visiting the Lake District National Park where no extra provision is being made for extra toilets or even car parking to accommodate them. We cannot continually increase the number of visitors without considering upping the infrastructure of our towns and villages to cope with increased numbers.
“If we are to have more tourists, then we need to try to accommodate the people and equally importantly the cars that bring them. To have an anti-car policy as if they don’t exist is foolhardy and ostrich-like. If we genuinely wish to see the number of cars reduced within the park we should introduce a congestion charge for all none Cumbrian visitors and use the money to create a proper cheap and frequent bus system.”
