Another walking and cycling route upgrade completed in County Durham - and nursery children give it the thumbs-up

Cllr Elizabeth Scott (left) takes a stroll along the upgraded path between Newton Hall and Aykley Heads with children and staff from Busy Bees Nursery.

We've completed improvements to the path between Old Pit Lane in Newton Hall and Rivergreen at Aykley Heads.

The path has been resurfaced and widened, and a gate installed to prevent cars gaining access.

And children from the nearby Busy Bees Nursery were invited as special guests to its official opening event, after showing a keen interest in the project.

Route 'ideal for parents, pupils and commuters'

Cllr Elizabeth Scott, our Cabinet member for economy and partnerships, said: "This route is ideal for use by parents and pupils of nearby schools and nurseries like Busy Bees, as well as for those commuting to work in Durham City or via Durham Station.

"The children were fascinated by the sight of diggers and workers near their nursery and had all sorts of questions about it, so it was lovely to involve them in the official opening of the new look route and thank them for their interest and patience throughout the work.

"This is one of a number of schemes we're delivering with funding we secured from the government's Transforming Cities Fund. All are designed to make active travel choices more attractive to people who live, work in, and visit the city."

Support from the Transforming Cities Fund

We secured £2.8million from the government's Transforming Cities Fund earlier this year and are working in partnership with Transport North East and the North East Transport Committee.

The Transforming Cities Fund Programme provides £198million of capital investment in public transport, sustainable transport and public places for the North East.

It is an ambitious programme of investment which has been designed to transform and improve the local economy, environment and society.

The North East Transforming Cities Fund Programme provides investment in strategic bus corridors, walking and cycling routes around towns and city centres. It also provides improvements to rail station gateways, Park and Ride and local Metro services through the delivery of the Metro Flow project.