The Milton Keynes redway system (locally known as redways) is an over 200 miles (320 kilometres) network of shared use paths for cyclists and pedestrians in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England. [1] It is generally surfaced with red tarmac, and criss-crosses most of the city.
Some of these redways run next to the grid roads and local roads, with underpasses or bridges where they intersect major roads. Others run through park land and along the floodplain of the Great Ouse and its tributaries.
Construction of the redway commenced in the 1970s with the start of the construction of the "new city". By 1980 it was the largest urban cycleway system in the UK with 22 miles (35.4 km) in use. [2]
The redway system is restricted to cyclists, pedestrians, and powered wheelchairs. [3] It may not be used by horses (except where they run along designated bridleways), motorcycles, mopeds or motor-scooters ("e-scooters"), [4] though (walking-pace) electric delivery robots are permitted. [5] [6]
The national Sustrans National Cycle Network Route 6 (Derby – Luton) and Route 51 (Harwich - Cambridge – Oxford) runs to and through the city.
Route 6 enters Milton Keynes from the south following the Grand Union Canal in southern Bletchley. After a loop through central Bletchley close to Bletchley railway station and Bletchley Park, it resumes its track northwards via Fenny Stratford along the valley of the River Ouzel (near The Open University campus and Milton Keynes University Hospital) and the Grand Union to Campbell Park (where it intersects National Cycle Route 51 heading west to Central Milton Keynes and Milton Keynes Central railway station). At Great Linford, the route heads west along the former Wolverton to Newport Pagnell Line (now a rail trail). At Old Wolverton (near Wolverton railway station), the route crosses the River Great Ouse to leave the Milton Keynes Urban Area for the rural villages of Castlethorpe and Hanslope before crossing into Northamptonshire.
Route 51 enters the east of the city at Wavendon then turns north at Walton alongside the Grand Union to Willen Lake then west again to cross NCR6 at Campbell Park. It ascends westwards again through the Park to Central Milton Keynes, leaving the central business district beside Milton Keynes Central railway station. The route runs south by the 'teardrop lakes' to the National Bowl then west again past Furzton Lake, leaving the city at Tattenhoe.
Cycle storage can be found along route 51 at Milton Keynes Central train station (covered cycle racks) and at the junction of Midsummer Boulevard and Witan Gate where there are storage and changing facilities available. There are also frequent Sheffield cycle racks near the station, and outside the shopping centre and theatre, on both sides of Midsummer Boulevard. Cyclists appear to be encouraged to cycle through car parks (with two-way lanes) on each side of Midsummer Boulevard, and use pedestrian underpasses at the major junctions (cars use the roundabouts and/or traffic lights).
The Swan's Way long-distance footpath also uses part of the redway system.
Milton Keynes is a city in Buckinghamshire, England, about 50 miles (80 km) north-west of London. At the 2021 Census, the population of its urban area was 264,349. The River Great Ouse forms the northern boundary of the urban area; a tributary, the River Ouzel, meanders through its linear parks and balancing lakes. Approximately 25% of the urban area is parkland or woodland and includes two Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs).
Stony Stratford is a market town in Buckinghamshire and a constituent town of Milton Keynes, England. It is located on Watling Street, historically the Roman road from London to Chester. It is also a civil parish with a town council in the City of Milton Keynes. It is in the north-west corner of the Milton Keynes urban area, bordering Northamptonshire and separated from it by the River Great Ouse. In 2011 the parish had a population of 7736.
Wolverton is a constituent town of Milton Keynes, England. It is located in the north-west of the city, beside the West Coast Main Line, the Grand Union Canal and the river Great Ouse. It is the administrative seat of Wolverton and Greenleys civil parish.
A bike path or a cycle path is a bikeway separated from motorized traffic and dedicated to cycling or shared with pedestrians or other non-motorized users. In the US a bike path sometimes encompasses shared use paths, "multi-use path", or "Class III bikeway" is a paved path that has been designated for use by cyclists outside the right of way of a public road. It may or may not have a center divider or stripe to prevent head-on collisions. In the UK, a shared-use footway or multi-use path is for use by both cyclists and pedestrians.
Bicycle transportation planning and engineering are the disciplines related to transportation engineering and transportation planning concerning bicycles as a mode of transport and the concomitant study, design and implementation of cycling infrastructure. It includes the study and design of dedicated transport facilities for cyclists as well as mixed-mode environments and how both of these examples can be made to work safely. In jurisdictions such as the United States it is often practiced in conjunction with planning for pedestrians as a part of active transportation planning.
Bletchleyrailway station serves the southern parts of Milton Keynes, England, and the north-eastern parts of Aylesbury Vale. It is 47 miles (76 km) northwest of Euston, about 32 miles (51 km) east of Oxford and 17 miles (27 km) west of Bedford, and is one of the seven railway stations serving the Milton Keynes urban area.
Milton Keynes Central railway station serves Milton Keynes and surrounding parts of Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire and Northamptonshire (England). The station is located on the West Coast Main Line about 50 miles (80 km) northwest of London. The station is served by Avanti West Coast intercity services, and by West Midlands Trains regional services.
Wolverton railway station serves Wolverton, a constituent town of Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England. The station is on the West Coast Main Line, about 52 miles (84 km) from Euston, between Milton Keynes Central and Northampton. The station is one of the seven stations serving the Milton Keynes urban area.
New Bradwell is (mainly) an Edwardian era village, modern district and civil parish in north-west Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England, about 2 miles (3.2 km) north-west of Central Milton Keynes. Together with Wolverton, it was built primarily to house the workers on the Wolverton railway works.
Central Milton Keynes is the central business district of Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England and a civil parish in its own right, with a town council.
The Concrete Cows in Milton Keynes, England are an iconic work of sculpture, created in 1978 by the American artist Liz Leyh. There are three cows and three calves, approximately half life size.
A subway, also known as an underpass, is a grade-separated pedestrian crossing running underneath a road or railway in order to entirely separate pedestrians and cyclists from motor or train traffic.
This history of Milton Keynes details its development from the earliest human settlements, through the plans for a 'new city' for 250,000 people in northern Southeast England, its subsequent urban design and development, to the present day. Milton Keynes, founded in 1967, is the largest settlement and only city in Buckinghamshire. At the 2021 census, the population of its urban area was estimated to have exceeded 256,000.
The Milton Keynes grid road system is a network of predominantly national speed limit, fully landscaped routes that form the top layer of the street hierarchy for both private and public transport in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire. The system is unique in the United Kingdom for its innovative use of street hierarchy principles: the grid roads run in between districts rather than through them. This arrangement permits higher speed limits due to the absence of buildings close to the roads – although more recently some have been limited in part to 40 mph (64 km/h). The grid road system also serves an important purpose of discouraging through-traffic from travelling through neighbourhoods and thus reduces traffic noise and pollution in pedestrian areas. Motor traffic is segregated from pedestrian and leisure cycling traffic, which uses the alternative Milton Keynes redway system. Almost all grid junctions are roundabouts, and the absence of traffic lights enables free and efficient movement of traffic.
National Cycle Route 6 is a route of the United Kingdom National Cycle Network, running from London to the Lake District.
National Cycle Route 51 is an English long distance cycle route running broadly east-west connecting Colchester and the port of Harwich to Oxford via Ipswich, Bury St Edmunds, Cambridge, Bedford, Milton Keynes, Bicester, and Kidlington. It runs for 189.3 miles for the full route.
Cycling in Cardiff, capital of Wales, is facilitated by its easy gradients and large parks. In the mid-2000s between 2.7% and 4.3% of people commuted to work by cycling in the city. In 2017 12.4% of workers cycled to work at least 5 days a week. However, cyclists in the city are deterred from cycling by poor facilities and aggressive traffic, according to research by Cardiff University.
Bike paths in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, vary widely, with the majority either shared cycle and pedestrian paths or on road paths, and a small number of separated cycleways. In 2009 the Sydney Morning Herald reported that "Sydney's cycleways are not so much an organised network as a fragmented collection of winding paths and half-finished ideas. Most were built or designed when cycling was viewed as a pleasant pastime rather than a practical form of travel and are now poorly suited to commuting."
Denbigh Hall railway station was a temporary terminus station on the London and Birmingham Railway in the Denbigh area of what is now Milton Keynes in Buckinghamshire, England. It was open for less than six months, between April and September 1838, and was situated near a point where the railway crossed Watling Street, about 1 mile (1.6 km) north of the current location of Bletchley railway station, though Bletchley did not open until after Denbigh Hall had closed.
The Aylesbury Vale is a geographical region in Buckinghamshire, England, which is bounded by the City of Milton Keynes and West Northamptonshire to the north, Central Bedfordshire and the Borough of Dacorum (Hertfordshire) to the east, the Chiltern Hills to the south and South Oxfordshire to the west. It is named after Aylesbury, the county town of Buckinghamshire. Winslow and Buckingham are among the larger towns in the vale.