WORK is set to start this week on a new cycle route linking Blackheath town centre and Rowley Regis train station.

The scheme – which is part of a Cycling in Sandwell’s proposed network of cycle routes to make cycling around the borough more popular, safer and convenient – will see cycle lanes, new signs, a refuge for cyclists crossing the ring road and dropped kerbs introduced.

A new route will be created along Avenue Road, the ring road and Archer Way and the work is set to start on Short Street on Friday (December 1) and on Archer Way on January 2, 2018, and is expected to finish by March.

Councillor Paul Moore, Sandwell Council’s cabinet member for regeneration and economic investment, said: “We’re working with cyclists to identify what we can do to make their journeys safer and encourage others to take up cycling.

“We’re particularly focusing on areas where we can make it easier for people to cycle to and from work, especially people who commute by train.”

The new Blackheath cycle route will link the town with the existing cycle route in Oldbury, which is also set to be improved, while a new cycle link will be created along the A4034 Oldbury Ringway – starting in January.

It will allow cyclists to bypass the island where the Ringway, Church Street and Bromford Road meet, and work on that is also expected to be completed by March.

Cabinet member for highways and environment, Cllr David Hosell, added: “The work we’re doing to link Blackheath and the train station will also help cyclists making longer journeys – connecting Blackheath with Oldbury and in turn, Cradley Heath and West Bromwich.”