National Highways closes walking and cycling routes beside heavily polluted roads
Roads body accused of 'perversely penalising' walkers and cyclists for motor traffic pollution
When Steve Cromwell tried to use a shared use path beside the A3 in Guildford in Surrey in July, he was surprised to find ‘hostile paving’ had been installed, bumpy paving blocks, along with new signs prohibiting cycling and walking, and one sign showing a diversion. While the path itself was only a narrow, debris-strewn pavement alongside a 50mph dual carriageway, its closure meant a detour for potential users.
It transpired that National Highways had closed the path because air quality levels on the road exceeded legal annual thresholds; as the path was within 15 metres of the carriageway, path users were being exposed to dangerously polluted air. By closing the path National Highways had, perversely, brought the road into compliance. The roughly 1.4 miles of footway, it said, will stay closed until air quality drops below the legal annual limit for nitrogen dioxide (40µg/m3 NO2) – currently projected at between 2030 and 2035.
In February 2025 National Highways moved a ‘cycle collection point’ where cyclists call and wait to be driven across the Dartford tunnel at junction 31 of the M25, and closed the path leading to it. The reason was again to limit human exposure to illegally high air pollution levels. According to National Highways data, the road will not comply with legal annual NO2 limits until 2030.
The new collection point, which is on London Road, West Thurrock, requires users to cycle along a series of busy roads, according to local cyclist Terence Hughes. The new location wasn’t initially signposted. Hughes, of Havering Cyclists, said the crossing control point was moved from a safe cycle path onto a busy road “which can only be accessed by more busy roads. And when I say busy, I mean loads of HGV traffic.”
Emails from Connect Plus, the contractor that manages the M25 and the Dartford-Thurrock River Crossing, seen by Potholes and Pavements, said: “An alternative, new cycle route was not considered as part of this project. As stated previously, there are a number of alternative routes available to cyclists who had previously accessed the collection point, one specific route has not been recommended for use.”
According to National Highways’ air quality audit several options were considered to bring the A282 into compliance, including an HGV retrofit programme, which could have reduced Nitrogen Dioxide levels by 3µg/m3 , potentially bringing forward compliance by two to three years. However, there is no accredited retrofit system, or a mechanism for delivery, and such a scheme would require government intervention. Barriers, clean air zones and tunnels were similarly dismissed. The only option considered possible was the path closure.
However, Hughes feels the alternative route is more dangerous than the pavement path it replaced. He said: “The path to the old crossing point connected directly with (National Cycle Network route) NCN13 and provided a safe, off-road route. The new crossing point and the ‘alternative routes’ that they mention are on busy roads and I cannot imagine any but the most risk-tolerant cyclist using them. So we’ve traded a short section beside a very polluted road for longer sections on still polluted roads but with much more road danger.”
