New signage will be installed to mark 25 years of the city’s circular cycling network – and PECT is inviting you to share your Green Wheel memories.
Peterborough’s Millennium Green Wheel turns 25 today. To celebrate this anniversary, PECT is giving its signage a much-needed spruce up.
The Green Wheel – a cycling network with inner and outer routes and ‘spokes’ linking them to the city centre – was one of the first large-scale projects delivered by PECT. Created in sections, it was officially opened at a ceremony in Cathedral Square on Sunday 3 September 2000.
Now, PECT is planning to refresh interpretation boards and directional signage, and it is inviting local people to share their fond memories of enjoying the Green Wheel.
The Green Wheel was an £11 million project which saw the construction of the award-winning Shanks Millennium Bridge over the River Nene at Stanground Washes, completing a fully off-road route between Peterborough and Whittlesey for cyclists, horse riders, and pedestrians. Fifty per cent of the funding came from the National Lottery’s Millennium Commission, with matched contributions from project partners.
Today, the network comprises just over 60 miles of off-road cycle paths, bridleways and low-traffic roads, linking country parks at Ferry Meadows and Crown Lakes with picturesque villages, such as Marholm and Peakirk, and the Flag Fen Archaeology Park.
Announcing PECT’s plans to improve the Green Wheel, CEO Stuart Dawks said: “Many Peterborians will have happy memories of cycling and walking the Green Wheel over the years. It’s one of the great things about Peterborough. And it’s more than just a network of routes connecting the city’s cherished green spaces.”
More than 60 interpretation boards, celebrating the social, natural, and cultural history of Peterborough and its rural surrounds, were installed as part of the Green Wheel. But after 25 years in the open, many are now looking worse for wear.
“Over the coming months, we’ll be repairing and replacing some of them, and cutting back overgrown vegetation,” explained Stuart.
Parts of the Green Wheel have changed over the years, and we want to make sure people can still find their way around it easily.”
To commemorate 25 years of the Green Wheel, PECT is also asking people to send digital ‘postcards’ in the form of photos, videos, and short messages recalling memorable days on the Green Wheel, favourite views, and beloved pit stops. These postcards will be shared on an online pinboard, with postcard senders being entered into a draw to win a £100 cycling gift voucher.
Postcards from the Green Wheel can be emailed to [email protected]. More info about the Green Wheel, including a route map and updates on improvement works, can be found here.