We’re excited to announce that the first phase of a scheme to link two Pembrokeshire towns with an active travel route has officially opened. The 17-kilometre route between Narberth and Haverfordwest incorporates traffic-free sections and quiet roads and follows existing highways, tracks, bridleways and public footpaths.
These new links will provide opportunities for local people to access jobs, services and tourist destinations using active transport.
Sustrans worked closely with Pembrokeshire County Council to deliver this project.
During the opening, Elena Bianchi, Network Development Manager at Sustrans Cymru said:
“We are very happy to celebrate the opening of this section of the path. It shows how collaboration and engagement are key to ensuring we create high-quality, traffic-free infrastructure suitable for all users.
"During this process, we have learnt a lot and are looking forward to making this learning available for the future phases of the project and for other similar projects around the UK.”
The scheme is part of a larger project called Linking Up, which is improving connections between eight rural communities across Wales and the National Cycle Network. These new links will provide opportunities for local people to access jobs, services and tourist destinations using active transport.
Collaboration has been crucial during the Linking Up project, embedding the local community’s views and needs and ensuring we deliver paths that will be used by all.
We have worked with local authorities, community groups, interested parties, policymakers and statutory bodies to develop “shovel ready” plans that can be put forward for further funding aimed at the construction of the paths.