{"id":219983,"date":"2025-10-23T09:46:12","date_gmt":"2025-10-23T09:46:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/219983\/"},"modified":"2025-10-23T09:46:12","modified_gmt":"2025-10-23T09:46:12","slug":"stevenage-glow-ride-shines-light-on-need-for-safer-cycling","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/219983\/","title":{"rendered":"Stevenage Glow Ride shines light on need for safer cycling"},"content":{"rendered":"

Martin HeathHertfordshire political reporter<\/p>\n

\"LoydLoyd Davis<\/p>\n

The cyclists had to rely on their own lamps in Fairlands Valley Park<\/p>\n

More than 50 cyclists have staged a glow ride to highlight the need for safer night cycling – especially for women.<\/p>\n

The route in Stevenage, Hertfordshire, included a park which many cyclists avoid in the winter because it has no lighting.<\/p>\n

Participants also called for damaged cycle paths and roads to be repaired.<\/p>\n

One borough councillor who saw the event get under way said the authority was “willing to look at” providing extra lights.<\/p>\n

The Glow Ride was part of a national campaign by Cycling UK and coincided with similar events in Milton Keynes, St Albans and across the country.<\/p>\n

The 5.6 mile (9km) route in Stevenage included parts of the town’s extensive cycle routes and road network as well as Fairlands Valley Park – which was particularly difficult as much of it was in darkness.<\/p>\n

\"MartinMartin Heath\/BBC<\/p>\n

Jennifer Huygen got more than 1,000 signatures on a petition for more lighting in the park<\/p>\n

One of the cyclists, Jennifer Huygen, said she was so fed up with the lack of lighting that she brought the issue up at a council meeting.<\/p>\n

She said: “I asked ‘when will you make it safe? Will you install lighting?’<\/p>\n

“Basically, they questioned whether it was sensible for me as a woman to be there by myself in the dark, and I got really upset by that.”<\/p>\n

She started a petition which soon collected 1,300 signatures, which meant the issue had to be discussed at a council meeting.<\/p>\n

\"MartinMartin Heath\/BBC<\/p>\n

Councillor Alistair Gordon said extra lighting could be “on the cards”<\/p>\n

Alistair Gordon, a borough councillor who saw the Glow Ride start, said additional lighting was “always something the council is willing to look at, obviously resource-dependant, but we’re always keen to hear from people”.<\/p>\n

“I wouldn’t say it’s not on the cards,” he said.<\/p>\n

\"MartinMartin Heath\/BBC<\/p>\n

Lindsey Day said underpasses in Stevenage felt much safer after the installation of new lighting<\/p>\n

Other participants reported that some of the cycle routes had deteriorated and the ride was, in places, far from smooth.<\/p>\n

But there were some positives to take from the event.<\/p>\n

Lindsey Day said: “You can see from where the underpasses have been improved how much safer it feels.<\/p>\n

“The lighting has changed to LED and it’s on sensors – it feels nicer and more inclusive.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Martin HeathHertfordshire political reporter Loyd Davis The cyclists had to rely on their own lamps in Fairlands Valley…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":219984,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[4985,101,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-219983","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-cycling","8":"tag-cycling","9":"tag-sports","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom","12":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/219983","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=219983"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/219983\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/219984"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=219983"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=219983"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=219983"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}