Comments on the Cycle Route project can be submitted via the marshal’s office website, by email at rower@irt.wroc.pl, and, for the first time, using the Lower Silesian Geoportal. The latter option also makes it possible to propose new routes for individual sections of the Cycle Route directly on the map. The form is available at https://geoportal.dolnyslask.pl/imap/#gpmap=gp109. In the menu on the left, select the type of comment being submitted. Anyone can do this, as the Lower Silesian Cycle Route is intended above all to be a useful and attractive project for the residents of the voivodeship and for tourists.
– Lower Silesia is one of the first regions in Poland to address cycling routes in such a comprehensive way. 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 routes are safe, functional, user- and environmentally friendly – says Cezary Przybylski, Marshal of the Lower Silesian Voivodeship.
The Lower Silesian Cycle Route comprises more than 1,800 km of long-distance cycling routes covering the entire Lower Silesia region, with some sections also connecting to their counterparts in the Czech Republic and Germany. The routes are intended to be an important part of everyday transport, as well as a way to increase the tourism potential of individual municipalities and counties. They will provide convenient connections to the region’s most important centres, railway hubs and bus stops. The project is worth PLN 850 million.
– We are waiting for EU funding from the new financial perspective to be launched, which will make it possible to implement a large part of the Cycle Route project. Naturally, construction of the entire regional route system will be based on cooperation with local governments, including their financial participation. Together, we will create a groundbreaking tourist product on a national scale – says Grzegorz Macko, Deputy Marshal of the Lower Silesian Voivodeship.
In many European regions where similar cycling networks have already been built, local entrepreneurship is developing very well. Rest areas, hotels, guesthouses, as well as catering and service establishments are being built near the routes. The number of available jobs is also increasing.
– There is no doubt that the same scenario will unfold in Lower Silesia. Year after year, we observe the growing popularity of bicycles as a means of transport used for tourism. A bicycle allows us to reach many interesting places and attractions inaccessible to car traffic. Many people are also choosing to switch from cars to bicycles for their daily commutes to work. This is especially true in cities struggling with traffic jams and smog – says Teresa Zembik, councillor of the Lower Silesian Regional Assembly.
Some 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 Lower Silesian Cycle Route project is the result of planning work carried out over the past four years. In 2017, the Board of the Lower Silesian Voivodeship adopted the Lower Silesian Cycling Policy. Its main objective 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 to the Baltic Sea.
Construction of the Cycle Route will be subject to strict rules. All design and technical requirements have been included in documentation prepared by the Institute of Territorial Development, which defines all design and construction standards for cycling infrastructure in the Lower Silesian Voivodeship.
– The most important objectives we want to achieve are, of course, climate neutrality in the longer term, as well as transport multimodality—that is, integrating different forms of travel, including cycling, in the region. I encourage you to take part in the public consultations and submit your comments – says Maciej Zathey, director of the Institute of Territorial Development.
The route network will include, among others, 11 main cycling routes, including five national routes, forming part of the National Cycling Route System adopted by the Convention of Marshals of the Republic of Poland:
- 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.