Three new bicycle repair stations have been installed in Solihull, thanks to a successful bid by the Council’s Sustainable Travel Team to the government’s Emergency Active Travel Fund.
The stations are free to use and each includes a stand to put your bike on, a pressure gauge pump and just about every type of tool that you need for repairs.
The repair stations are located at:
- Stratford Road, Shirley outside Shirley Park
- High Street, Solihull Town Centre
- Whitlocks End rail station car park
Solihull Council’s Cabinet Member for Environment and Highways, Cllr Ken Hawkins said: “With less traffic on the roads, there’s been renewed interest in cycling since the start of the pandemic and we are keen to help and support cyclists, old and new, in whatever way we can. The stations have been financed using the Government’s emergency active travel funding and have been positioned in locations which have lots of cyclists.
“We recently consulted on our Cycling and Walking Strategy which seeks to embed cycling and walking initiatives into local policy. Though financed by the government’s emergency active travel fund, these new cycle repair stations support the council’s wider aims which are to encourage and improve the confidence of our residents to cycle and walk more often in practical and meaningful ways.”
Solihull Council’s Cabinet Member for Climate Change, Planning and Housing, Cllr Andy Mackiewicz added: “As part of our strategy to reach Net Zero Carbon emissions by 2041 we are putting into practice all sorts of measures to help people move towards more sustainable means of travel.
“The new stations have all the kit you need to make repairs to your bike, keeping residents and their bikes on the road for longer. The more people who can be supported to travel by bike as opposed to using their cars, the closer we will get to our carbon neutral target.”
To see the Council’s Cycling and Walking Strategy visit - https://www.solihull.gov.uk/About-the-Council/Cycling-walking-strategy
Background:
The Department for Transport allocated £3.85 million to Travel for West Midlands for its Emergency Active Travel Fund, Tranche 1 across the West Midlands. Officers from the Council’s Sustainable Travel Team successfully applied to the fund for money to support the purchase and installation of three cycle repair stations. The stations were installed by Balfour Beatty.