The project was delivered by the City and County of Swansea with funding support from the Welsh Government. The design and supervision for the project was provided by the City and County of Swansea, with a number of construction packages delivered by local contractors from the South West Wales Civil Engineering Construction Framework and the Swansea Highways Partnership.

The authority initially developed a number of active travel schemes on an Integrated Network Map, identifying an ambitious programme to revolutionise active travel usage within the region. The generous £2m funding allocation for the period 2018-19 posed a significant challenge in terms of resource and local consultation. The authority was able to deliver the majority of works using contracting resource from a regional framework. Not only did this support the local construction workforce, but introduced opportunities for an expansion of the community benefits programme introduced for the wider framework, to be tailored for the delivery of the Active Travel Programme. 7 key projects were delivered and introduced an additional 12 km’s of new routes to Swansea communities; increasing Swansea total network length to 118km’s.

The challenge posed by Welsh Government to encourage 10% of the population to cycle at least once a week is highly ambitious and the manner in which the package of projects has been delivered by Swansea Council has matched that ambition with innovative design, consultation, procurement and community engagement. Rarely can such projects evidence support from a wide spectrum of forums, which is essential if the client’s aspiration of a step approach in transport is to be achieved.

The Swansea Active Travel Package is deemed worthy of submission due to its extended efforts to coordinate works with the adjacent communities and to ensure that the wider benefits of infrastructure enhancement are achieved alongside a fully engaged community. The manner in which works were delivered through a local SME framework has supported a number of added benefits, evidenced by high quality workmanship, a large number of community benefits and investment within the local supply chain.

Schemes

• Swansea Vale
• Trallwn
• Ynystawe
• Cwm Level
• Blackpill
• Singleton
• Kingsbridge Link

Key achievements

• A unique and innovative approach towards community engagement and project promotion.
• Ability to deliver a large scale of works to local SME’s within a highly restrictive programme.
• A significant focus on the local supply chain and the ability to support the growth of local SME’s within a restricted market.