{"id":480477,"date":"2026-03-17T14:10:13","date_gmt":"2026-03-17T14:10:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/480477\/"},"modified":"2026-03-17T14:10:13","modified_gmt":"2026-03-17T14:10:13","slug":"a-line-in-the-sand-cycling-club-joins-campaign-to-keep-controversial-ltn-closed-to-drivers-warning-reopening-will-lead-to-scrapping-of-other-active-travel-schemes-cycling-news-bike-reviews","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/480477\/","title":{"rendered":"“A line in the sand”: Cycling club joins campaign to keep controversial LTN closed to drivers, warning ‘reopening’ will lead to scrapping of other active travel schemes – Cycling News | Bike Reviews"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

In the latest update to the consultation regarding a low-traffic route in Exeter which has been closed to motorists since the pandemic, a cycling club has joined the campaign to keep the \u2018bike only\u2019 route giving cyclists a \u201clow-conflict and strategically important connection into the city centre\u201d.<\/p>\n

In recent weeks, a public consultation on the scheme was paused and then restarted, campaigners accusing the council of risking \u201csacrificing safety for drivers\u2019 benefit\u201d, the development that active travel funds could be used to reopen the \u2018cycling only\u2019 Dryden Road to motorists branded a \u201cdisgrace\u201d.<\/p>\n

Now, Exeter Wheelers Cycling Club has joined the calls to maintain the route as it is, highlighting that, while members are generally used to riding on public roads, \u201cAs a club, we strongly support the development and protection of safe, high-quality cycling infrastructure that enables a broader range of people, including less confident riders, younger users, and those travelling for everyday purposes, to cycle safely and develop confidence in wider road riding.\u201d<\/p>\n

In a five-page response to the consultation, the cycling club argues that Dryden Road \u201chas provided a low-conflict and strategically important connection into the city centre, avoiding heavily trafficked routes\u201d.<\/p>\n

The road was made a \u2018cycles only\u2019 route during the pandemic, the council opting to install bollards to prevent other traffic accessing the route and \u201chelping to create a safer environment for people cycling\u201d.<\/p>\n

The closure was made permanent in 2022, Devon County Council stating the move aimed to maintain lower traffic levels in the area and improve the safety and environment for people cycling.<\/p>\n

However, sections of the community have vocally opposed the closure with protests and online discussion, a\u00a0petition<\/a>\u00a0urging the reopening of Dryden Road attracting around 2,500 signatures.<\/p>\n

\"ExeterExeter road closure (Image Credit: Ian Frankum\/Facebook)<\/p>\n

A consultation on the future of the route is underway, with the council giving three options, including installing a bus gate, or making the road one-way with a contraflow cycleway, or reopening the route to two-way traffic with painted cycleways instead.<\/p>\n

According to the council, creating a protected bike route on the road, while retaining two-way traffic, would be \u201cprohibitively expensive, impractical, and unviable\u201d due to the width of the road and the apparent need to remove a retaining wall and encroach on private land to create enough space.<\/p>\n

\"DrydenDryden Road, Exeter plans \u2013 Option 3 (Image Credit: Devon County Council)<\/p>\n

Consequently, option three, the proposal most popular with those vocally opposed to maintaining the low-traffic neighbourhood, features an advisory, painted lane, which drivers could enter in order to pass oncoming vehicles.<\/p>\n

A further option, known as 3b, would see the road reopened with on-street parking maintained, effectively eliminating any form of cycling infrastructure from the road, something the council admitted would mean \u201cpoor\u201d access for those on bikes, while also posing a safety risk.<\/p>\n

Earlier this month the council briefly announced that it had \u201ctemporarily paused\u201d the Dryden Road consultation \u201cto clarify aspects of the options\u201d. The council also said it would hold further discussions with the chair of Exeter\u2019s Highways and Traffic Orders Committee at the \u201cearliest opportunity to help identify the next steps\u201d.<\/p>\n

However, it was soon reopened with no alterations to the options offered.<\/p>\n

> \u201cSacrificing safety for drivers\u2019 benefit\u201d: Plan to reopen \u2018cycling only\u2019 road to motorists using active travel funds branded a \u201cdisgrace\u201d \u2013 as council dismisses protected bike lanes as \u201cimpractical, costly, and unviable\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

In January, Exeter\u2019s Highways and Traffic Orders Committee confirmed that \u00a355,000 of Active Travel England funding has currently been allocated to support public consultation activities and any ongoing work.<\/p>\n

If option three is passed, the council expects to spend between \u00a3200,000 and \u00a31m carrying out the work. It is expected that a substantial portion of this sum will be covered by government active travel funding.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe worst thing is the funding to do this, which will increase danger to cyclists, is coming from the active travel pot,\u201d cycling writer Edward Pickering, the vice-chair of the Exeter Cycling Campaign, told\u00a0road.cc.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were told by council officers that there was space for pedestrians, two-way traffic, and segregated bike lanes on Dryden Road,\u201d he said. \u201cNow it turns out there isn\u2019t, and surprise, surprise, guess which is going to be the one to give?<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a disgrace. They\u2019re sacrificing cyclists\u2019 safety for the sole benefit of drivers.\u201d<\/p>\n

Exeter Wheelers Cycling Club states its response \u201cfocuses on cycling safety, inclusivity, and network integrity\u201d.<\/p>\n

The club also questioned why the consultation does not include retaining the existing scheme as an option.<\/p>\n

\"DrydenDryden Road closure, Exeter (Image Credit: Ian Frankum\/Facebook)<\/p>\n

\u201cThis structure risks creating an impression that change is assumed or required,\u201d they said.<\/p>\n

In order of preference, the club said its top priority would be retain the current layout but, if change was pursued, it would support the bus gate option which would keep the road closed to drivers other than \u201cauthorised vehicles\u201d such as taxis, waste collection and the emergency services.<\/p>\n

Option three, with two-way traffic and unprotected cycle lanes \u201cis not supported\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cOption 3 fundamentally undermines the principle of the adopted Exeter Transport Strategy dismantling Exeter\u2019s developing cycling network and may also be an unsafe legal decision for DCC to undertake as shown in a recent judicial review in Tower Hamlets<\/a>,\u201d the club said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe removal of the closure at Dryden Road would likely enhance calls for further removal of protection sections of the E9 [postcode] and increased risks to users across the developing protected network. This has been explicitly stated by well known anti active travel activists within the city as their \u2018next goal\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n

Another local who got in touch with road.cc regarding the consultation called the Dryden Road scheme a \u201cline in the sand\u201d and believes \u201cthey will go for other closures on this route next\u201d.<\/p>\n

The Exeter Wheelers Cycling Club ended its consultation response: \u201cDryden Road is a strategic component of Exeter\u2019s developing cycling network. The safest and most policy-aligned outcome is to retain the current arrangement. If change is pursued, it must not compromise cyclist safety or undermine the integrity of the adopted network.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In the latest update to the consultation regarding a low-traffic route in Exeter which has been closed to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":455852,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[4985,101,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-480477","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cycling","tag-cycling","tag-sports","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/480477","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=480477"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/480477\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/455852"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=480477"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=480477"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=480477"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}