London Underground-style map to show key cycling routes in Portsmouth

Portsmouth Cycle Forum is in the early stages of producing the Tube-style map which will colour-code how good the infrastructure is for cyclists.

At last night’s annual general meeting, members of the forum marked on maps of the city places they like to visit and the routes to them.

The locations vary from schools, tourist attractions and train stations.

The routes will then be coloured red for bad infrastructure on main, busy roads or blue for good infrastructure. Other colours will also be used depending on road speed limits and what sort of lanes they have.

Jon Riding, from the forum, gave a presentation on the plan last night and has been helping put it together.

Mr Riding said: ‘The idea is to present on a very simple map what the infrastructure is like.

‘Once we have drawn it up, we will give it to Portsmouth City Council and the aim is to see it all eventually turned blue as areas are improved.

‘This is something we want to produce so cyclists across the city know where the safe cycle lanes are and the best ways to get between places.

‘There are some very good cycle routes in Portsmouth but there are also ones which aren’t up to standard.’

As well as the coloured lines, the map will have locations marked with a red or white spot – white for unrestricted access and red for no wheeled access.

Mr Riding, from Eastney, got the idea from Cycling UK.

The map has already been produced for Bath, Somerset.

He added: ‘There were similar ones created but I think Cycling UK want to standardise the map so it can be understood in all cities.

‘Once we draw it up, it could be available for anyone to access. We are in early stages but we are definitely moving forward.’