CYCLING restrictions on Llandudno’s Promenade could be lifted for a year.
Tomorrow (Thursday), a report will go before a Conwy Council scrutiny committee recommending opening up the promenade to cyclists as part of a 12-month trial.
A byelaw restricting cycling on the promenade will also be suspended and, to monitor safety a CCTV system, will be installed.
Previous efforts to allow cycling were thwarted by concerns for the safety of pedestrians, and fears that cyclists would not reduce their speed.
A Task and Finish group was set up last March to look at the issue of cycling on the promenade with the aim of gathering evidence from other authorities and organisations on its possible effects.
Responses from 43 other coastal local authorities around the UK found accident levels were very low, as cyclists tended to moderate their speeds when on the same area as pedestrians.
Roy Spilsbury, for the Cyclist Touring Club (CTC) said: “CTC expects passage of this measure through the council to be as smooth as riding a bike - with all the benefits to individuals and the tourist trade to follow.”
Mr Spilsbury added the CTC hoped the council would eventually link Llandudno to the National Cycle Route, and provide an integrated cycle path in the town, linking the Promenade to Prince Edward’s Square and the West Shore.
John Lawson-Reay, of the Save our Promenade Campaign, labelled the lifting of restrictions as “diabolical” with nothing having changed on the Promenade since the council originally decided to prohibit cyclists.
He said: “The council are going back on what they had already agreed - they got experts to look at the situation, and they gave a recommendation which the council accepted. Nothing has changed.
“The difficulty is you can have CCTV but you can’t identify cyclists - they don’t have registration numbers on their bikes. Any talk of identification or monitoring is total nonsense.”