Bransholme Mini-Holland

The layout of the estate and the existing bike infrastructure make Bransholme an ideal choice to develop in to a Mini-Holland. However, such schemes aren’t just about bike infrastructure - they’re about ‘placemaking’, or making the place nicer. This proposal includes a centrepiece new native species ‘linear’ park that runs the length of the Foredyke. Inclusion of a new city park would link Bude Park in the north directly to the Foredyke Route on Sutton Road, and bring nature in to the City as far as Sutton Fields industrial estate. As well as providing a nice place for active travel, this would further enhance the schemes contribution to Hull’s target to be carbon neutral by 2030, and go some way to addressing the lack of biodiverse green space in the city, helping to address wildlife decline.

The proposal can be explored more by clicking on the map below; there is a key explaining what the colour of each line means on the left hand side of the map and clicking on each of the lines displays basic details about that section.

This scheme would not need to be started entirely from scratch. As the map shows, the western and southern routes are already intended for upgrade with the ForeDyke Route Quick Win scheme. The main Local Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plan (LCWIP) also identifies the existing crossings of Holwell Road (controlled and uncontrolled) as requiring upgrade to parallel zebra crossings. Additionally, the Council’s ‘My Hull’ maps website shows they’ve also been thinking about segregated bike paths on Littondale and more of Bude Road. As a final bonus, having a vision like this (and the amount of existing paths - just look at all those green lines) means even if funding isn’t forthcoming to do it all in one go, smaller parts of the proposal can be prioritised and the scheme achieved gradually as funding becomes available.

With any Mini-Holland scheme, there are a few aspects that are common across all of them and should be considered as part of the proposed scheme:

  • 20mph speed limit as a default across the whole scheme, with roads engineered to best enforce the limit.

  • Cyclists segregated from the carriageway along bus routes as a priority.

  • An appropriate uplift in supporting infrastructure, such as secure bike parking across the schemes.

  • Branding and signage to support journeys in and through / across the area.

  • Streetscene / placemaking to enhance resident buy-in and enhance the wider societal benefits i.e. tie-in with SUDS, increasing urban nature, etc.

A couple of (very approximate) headline figures:

  • Extremely rough guesstimate at cost (not including the park) - £13million (based on an average of £500,000/km upgraded or new segregated path; £30,000 per controlled crossing).

  • Potential number of people who could cycle from their homes to anywhere on the estate without using a busy road - 25,000 (i.e. the scheme captures every property!).

  • Hull CC path upgrades already proposed - 2.9km.

  • Hull CC controlled crossings already proposed - 17.

  • Other existing path to upgrade - 7.2km.

  • Provide priority over side roads / accesses on existing paths - 9 instances.

  • Footpath to upgrade to shared or segregated use - 1.8km.

  • CycHull proposed new bike or shared paths - 11.4km.

  • CycHull proposed controlled crossings - 28.