The idea is based on a network of main cycling routes covering the entire Lower Silesia, also connecting with their counterparts on the Czech and German sides. The routes are intended to be an important element of everyday transport, as well as a way to increase the tourism potential of a given municipality or county. Local residents will certainly appreciate them too, using them for training and recreation.
This is the result of planning work that lasted for the past four years. In 2017, the Board of the Lower Silesian Voivodeship adopted the Lower Silesian Cycling Policy. Its main goal is to increase the share of cycling in transport throughout the voivodeship. A year later, a letter of intent was also signed concerning the creation of Blue Velo, a cycling route along the Oder River, running from the Czech border all the way to the Baltic Sea. In other European regions, such routes are an important factor in the socioeconomic development of the areas through which they run.
- Lower Silesia, as one of the first regions in Poland, has addressed cycling roads in such a comprehensive manner. Together with experts and representatives of the cycling tourism community, we are creating a strategy for building a network of cycling routes throughout the voivodeship. We have also developed design standards to ensure that newly built roads are safe, functional, user-friendly and environmentally friendly – says Cezary Przybylski, Marshal of the Lower Silesian Voivodeship.
The project is being developed on the basis of objective criteria and provides, among other things, access to tourist attractions, connections with the region’s most important centers, and integration with public transport. The Lower Silesian Cycle Route will be financed using, among other sources, funds from the European Union.
- As the Board of the Lower Silesian Voivodeship, we have taken steps to obtain external funding for the Sudeten Cycle Route. It will connect our voivodeship through a network of routes enabling efficient cycling transport throughout the region. This is one of the flagship projects of the Lower Silesian Voivodeship, which will become a groundbreaking tourism product – assures Grzegorz Macko, Deputy Marshal of the Lower Silesian Voivodeship.
Some of the cycling routes in the region are already complete, and further investments are being planned in cooperation with local governments so that the network meets standards of safety, comfort, attractiveness and accessibility for everyone, regardless of age, equipment or cycling ability. The estimated cost of implementing the concept is approximately PLN 850 million.
- The construction of a safe cycling road is subject to strict rules. All design and technical requirements have been included in a document prepared by the Institute for Territorial Development. This is how the design and construction standards for cycling infrastructure in the Lower Silesian Voivodeship were created—guidelines for building cycling roads, informs Maciej Zathey, director of the Institute for Territorial Development.
In addition to tourism, the emerging network of cycling roads is also intended to be an important element of the local transport network.
– The Lower Silesian Cycle Route will become an important part of our tourism infrastructure. Thanks to it, people will be able to discover the attractions of the entire region from a different perspective. On the one hand, it will serve sightseeing and sports, while on the other, it will make it easier for many people to commute to work or school. The Cycle Route will be connected to railway routes, leading to Lower Silesian railway stations and stops – says Tymoteusz Myrda, Member of the Board of the Lower Silesian Voivodeship.
The cycling road network will be 1,800 km long in total. It will include, among other things, 11 main arteries, including 5 national routes, forming part of the nationwide cycling route system adopted by the Marshals’ Convention:
- National Route No. 9 – EV 9 (Adriatic–Baltic),
- National Route No. 3 – Blue Velo (Olomouc–Baltic),
- National Route No. 12 (Słubice–Katowice),
- National Route No. 6 – Via Regia Route (Dresden–Kyiv),
- National Route No. 8 (Wrocław–Warsaw).
Through this project, the Self-Government of the Lower Silesian Voivodeship is also pursuing the objectives set out in the European Union’s Green Deal policy.
