Cycle campaign condemns “completely mad” proposed changes to strategic cycle route
Exeter Cycling Campaign has condemned a proposal by Devon County Council to spend up to £1million of active travel funds to remove a safe strategic cycle corridor in Exeter.
The E9 cycle route was made safe for cycling six years ago with a modal filter in Dryden Road which, according to Devon County Council, reduced traffic congestion, reduced pollution, boosted cycling and walking and made travel easier for children and disabled people.
Last year the council gave in to pressure to consult on other options for Dryden Road, while agreeing to a binding committee motion to ensure all options kept the cycle route ‘safe and pleasant’.
Campaigners were shocked when the consultation was published with an option to remove the modal filter to allow an estimated 6,000 cars a day back onto Dryden Road with no segregated space for cyclists and a cost of up to £1million to narrow the pavements.
Option 3b proposes removing the modal filter, painting advisory cycle lanes on part of the road, and leaving the junctions with Bovemoors Lane and Wonford Street completely unchanged.
The consultation contradicts itself, firstly stating “Options in the consultation are considered deliverable and meet the aims to address local traffic concerns while still offering safe, attractive routes for people walking and cycling.”, followed by the statement that option 3b “will exclude most potential users and/or have safety concerns’.” (1)
Campaign Chair James Diamond said the decision to press ahead with the consultation was “totally bewildering” and that the idea of spending up to £1million of ring-fenced funding for active travel to remove a safe cycle link was “completely mad”. He added: “The petition that led to this review told councillors that there were problems with air pollution, congestion and road safety. This option will make all of these worse, not better.
“These proposals completely bulldoze the commitment to keep E9 safe for cycling. At least two of the options will put children in the path of up to 6,000 cars a day, with just a line of paint for protection.”
Mr Diamond has written to the lead councillor for active travel at DCC, Cllr Jacqi Hodgson, expressing the campaign’s sense of betrayal. He said: “We find it unimaginable that you would go to consultation on options for school bus transport or school toilet facilities which you acknowledge will be unsafe and uninclusive. Why is it acceptable for a route to school on a bike? “This is a strategic cycle route. Your officers and those at Exeter City Council have already demonstrated that it has reduced traffic volumes in the areas, reduced air pollution and grown active travel. It seems unbelievable that you are consulting on options to make a route to at least three schools unsafe and uninclusive. “We are asking you to intervene to bring this consultation back on track to deliver safe and attractive routes to school, the Exeter Transport Strategy and the Local Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plan.” The cycling campaign estimated that the modal filter in Dryden Road had reduced traffic in the area by up to 6,000 cars a day – journeys which were not displaced onto other roads – a significant win for reducing congestion and air pollution. Ends 7 March 2026
1. Notes to option 3b state: “Based on the Department for Transport Cycle Infrastructure Design, the level of vehicle flow mixing with cycles on the carriageway (without cycle lanes) at this section of Dryden Road would be ‘(Poor) Provision suitable for few people and will exclude most potential users and/or have safety concerns’.”
Exeter Cycling Campaign has condemned a proposal by Devon County Council to spend up to £1million of active travel funds to remove a safe strategic cycle corridor in Exeter.
The E9 cycle route was made safe for cycling six years ago with a modal filter in Dryden Road which, according to Devon County Council, reduced traffic congestion, reduced pollution, boosted cycling and walking and made travel easier for children and disabled people.
Last year the council gave in to pressure to consult on other options for Dryden Road, while agreeing to a binding committee motion to ensure all options kept the cycle route ‘safe and pleasant’.
Campaigners were shocked when the consultation was published with an option to remove the modal filter to allow an estimated 6,000 cars a day back onto Dryden Road with no segregated space for cyclists and a cost of up to £1million to narrow the pavements.
Option 3b proposes removing the modal filter, painting advisory cycle lanes on part of the road, and leaving the junctions with Bovemoors Lane and Wonford Street completely unchanged.
The consultation contradicts itself, firstly stating “Options in the consultation are considered deliverable and meet the aims to address local traffic concerns while still offering safe, attractive routes for people walking and cycling.”, followed by the statement that option 3b “will exclude most potential users and/or have safety concerns’.” (1)
Campaign Chair James Diamond said the decision to press ahead with the consultation was “totally bewildering” and that the idea of spending up to £1million of ring-fenced funding for active travel to remove a safe cycle link was “completely mad”. He added: “The petition that led to this review told councillors that there were problems with air pollution, congestion and road safety. This option will make all of these worse, not better.
“These proposals completely bulldoze the commitment to keep E9 safe for cycling. At least two of the options will put children in the path of up to 6,000 cars a day, with just a line of paint for protection.”
Mr Diamond has written to the lead councillor for active travel at DCC, Cllr Jacqi Hodgson, expressing the campaign’s sense of betrayal. He said: “We find it unimaginable that you would go to consultation on options for school bus transport or school toilet facilities which you acknowledge will be unsafe and uninclusive. Why is it acceptable for a route to school on a bike? “This is a strategic cycle route. Your officers and those at Exeter City Council have already demonstrated that it has reduced traffic volumes in the areas, reduced air pollution and grown active travel. It seems unbelievable that you are consulting on options to make a route to at least three schools unsafe and uninclusive. “We are asking you to intervene to bring this consultation back on track to deliver safe and attractive routes to school, the Exeter Transport Strategy and the Local Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plan.” The cycling campaign estimated that the modal filter in Dryden Road had reduced traffic in the area by up to 6,000 cars a day – journeys which were not displaced onto other roads – a significant win for reducing congestion and air pollution. Ends 7 March 2026
1. Notes to option 3b state: “Based on the Department for Transport Cycle Infrastructure Design, the level of vehicle flow mixing with cycles on the carriageway (without cycle lanes) at this section of Dryden Road would be ‘(Poor) Provision suitable for few people and will exclude most potential users and/or have safety concerns’.”
Dryden-Road-betrayal.docx