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Fuengirola to create cycle path network

Fuengirola to create cycle path network

May 11, 2020 What's happening?

The Fuengirola town hall has announced plans to create a cycling path network of 25 kilometres within its municipal boundaries. The project, which is expected to be fully completed by 2023 and is being called ‘Ciclocalle’, will commence with the construction of dedicated cycling paths in the town centre and along the beach promenade.

 

In launching this initiative, the town Fuengirola is following in the footsteps of Higuerón West, which incorporated safe cycling and walking spaces in its master plan design from the outset. Cycling paths and expanded pedestrian areas have become a priority among modern town planners in an effort to reduce traffic, congestion and pollution, as well as create more pleasant and harmonious urban living spaces.

 

A cycle network to connect the town

After the initial cycle network in the centre of Fuengirola and its beach promenade are completed, the plan also includes not only linking the surrounding residential areas to the centre, but also to one another – in the process creating a 25-kilometre network throughout the municipality. A larger-scale project in Seville overcame great infrastructural hurdles to achieve a similar level of car-free route networks at a fraction of the cost of expanding roads or metro systems.

 

An integral part of such a system is not only its use by bike-owning residents, but also the provision of bicycle hire hubs, known here as ‘Aparcabicis’. There will be 58 such collection and drop-off points, where casual bike users such as tourists can pay automatically for the use of hire bicycles. The mayor of Fuengirola, Ana Mula, heralds the new initiative as part of an overall plan to encourage people out of cars and thus ease traffic flows while also benefitting the environment.

 

The system will naturally also provide for bicycle parking facilities, such as already seen outside public amenities like railway stations, and the cycle path network will have its own set of road signs and traffic signals, as well as a series of apps to facilitate usage, rentals and finding your way around.

 

With its mostly level terrain, Fuengirola is the ideal spot to roll out this kind of project, stimulating small local bike businesses, reducing emissions and allowing cyclists to explore the surroundings in a wonderfully scenic way!