PLANS to create a walking and cycling trail via the Arnside Viaduct are being put to the community.

Morecambe Bay Partnership, the charity which created the immensely popular and award-winning Bay Cycle Way, is inviting local communities to discuss and comment on a cycling and walking trail connecting Arnside and Grange across the Viaduct.

The creation of an accessible route across the Arnside Viaduct has been a long-standing aspiration for many local people and organisations.

With funding from the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities ‘Coastal Revival Fund’, earlier this year, Morecambe Bay Partnership appointed a specialist contractor, PJA Consulting, to develop a feasibility study to determine if there were viable options to progress these community aspirations.

During the first phase of this feasibility study there was an overwhelming and positive response to a public survey. Since then, PJA have developed route options, economic projections, prepared a business case and visual representations of how the trail might look.

READ MORE: Arnside viaduct footpath gets thumbs up from residents

This phase of work is complete and Morecambe Bay Partnership invites communities of Grange and Arnside to consultation events in November. Communities will be able to see the proposed route and the benefits it could bring, speak to the experts, ask questions, and share their views.

Drop-in events to discuss and talk to PJA consultants and other stakeholders are booked for:

Arnside: WI Village Hall, Orchard Road, Arnside on Tuesday November 8 from 3pm to 6.30pm.

Grange over Sands: Methodist Church Hall, Kent's Bank Road, Grange, on Wednesday November 9 from 3pm until 6pm.

Access and infrastructure team leader at Morecambe Bay Partnership Richard Frank said: “We look forward to welcoming the communities of Arnside and Grange to our drop-in events, answering questions, and listening to views on the feasibility of an accessible cycling and walking route across the Arnside Viaduct.”

CEO Sarah Mason said: “If successful, the trail will be good news for the Bay's future to connect communities, increase active travel, reduce carbon emissions while boosting the local green economy and creating a fantastic attraction for visitors and local people to enjoy.”