West Midlands to gain 500-mile cycle network

Coventry is famous for its motor industry heritage but long before this, from the 1860s onwards, it was considered England’s bicycle city – and it gained an international reputation for quality engineering and fine craftsmanship.

However, in the late 19th century, with the motoring industry snapping at its heels, this thriving industry, with 450 bicycle makers in the city, slowly began to decline.

Now, just over 100 years later, the tide seems to be turning. On Tuesday morning, politicians and transport officials chose the city to announce the launch of a new 500-mile cycling vision for the West Midlands – the Starley Network. It pulls together existing routes and towpaths, proposed new cycling infrastructure and pop-up lanes.

Named after the “father of cycling” in the UK, James Starley, and his family, all the routes on the network will be dedicated to “active travel”, with the ambition that the routes will either be traffic-free away from the highway, or within roads but physically separated from traffic.

Related: What the West Midlands is getting right, and wrong, for cycling

Hoping to emulate the success of Manchester’s Bee Network and the Cycleways in London, politicians say the Starley Network represents a new era for the region, which has seen a surge in people taking to their bikes since the coronavirus pandemic.

The West Midlands mayor, Andy Street, said many saw the the region as somewhere that was not embracing the cycling revolution, but this “couldn’t be further from the truth”

“So with more people taking to two wheels and their two feet following the coronavirus pandemic, we have taken the decision to reimagine and rebrand our initial cycling plans. I am delighted to be launching the Starley Network today, and what better place to do so than in Coventry, the home of the Starley family and the modern-day bicycle,” he added.

James Starley, the co-founder of the Coventry Sewing Machine Company in the early 1860s, played a key role in improving the design of the velocipede, famed for its large front wheel. In 1885 his nephew, John Kemp Starley, developed the Rover Safety bicycle, the blueprint for modern models. In the years that followed, the Starley family firm diversified and Rover eventually became a world-famous car manufacturer.

“The Starley family helped us to lead the way back in the 19th century, and now their name will help take us into the next stage of the cycling story,” said Coventry councillor Jim O’Boyle.

He added: “It will keep people active and healthy, and it will help the region’s air quality. We are very proud to be a part of it, and to have the network named after one of our city’s famous families.”

On top of new routes already planned and funded – including the A45 Coventry Road in Birmingham, and the proposed Binley Road route between Coventry University and University hospital – the network will feature: a new cycle hire scheme with details to be released in the coming weeks; new cycle routes to run along the same transport corridors as the planned Sprint Bus routes, and a series of new active travel routes along the Wednesbury to Brierley Hill Metro tram line.

Adam Tranter, Coventry’s bicycle mayor, welcomed the new proposals but urged transport officials to ensure the scheme became a reality.

“As well as new names and new maps, we really need the infrastructure to be built at a pace not previously seen in the West Midlands, if we are to realise the golden age of cycling that the prime minister promises. The challenge will be to have a clear timeline of where this budget will be spent and when. There are so many people who want to cycle but won’t until it feels safer, so the time for change is now,” he added.