The Details
The lack of a route to Collin represent the most glaring gap in connections to settlements just outside Dumfries.Whenever we mention missing links in the cycling network, there’s one name that comes up more than anywhere else: Collin. Just 4 miles from the town centre by car, via the A75, the only realistic option for most cyclists is more than twice as long, and still involves a stretch of the A709, itself not a road for the faint hearted.
This doesn’t just matter for the population of Collin itself (around 800 people in and around the village). A direct route to Collin would enable cyclists to reach a network of minor roads that open up the countryside to the east of Dumfries, offering routes to Lochmaben, Torthorwald, the wonderfully named Heck, Hightae, and (via the underpass beneath the A75 at Collin) Mouswald, Clarencefield and Carrutherstown which also has an underpass beneath the A75.
The solution here is fairly obvious: a safe, shared-use path running parallel to the A75 straight into town (what to do once it reaches the Annan Road, in itself a not very appealing cycling prospect, is the subject of the Annan and Lockerbie Road missing link). This would have to be set well back from the dual carriageway – something like the path which runs alongside the A701 towards Beattock, for example, so cyclists aren’t buffeted by every passing lorry and can get away from the traffic fumes.
This is a route which is not in the remit of the council. The A75 is a trunk route and the responsibility of Transport Scotland. However, that doesn’t mean there’s nothing the council can do about it. Transport Scotland doesn’t build cycle paths alongside trunk roads unless they are doing major upgrades to them (which, with this stretch already dual carriageway, is unlikely in this case). The council would have to make the case to the Scottish Government to get this route built, but that shouldn’t be an impossible task, given the government’s stated commitment to active travel.
There are a lot of politicians, local and national, who are very vocal in their call for the dualling of the A75, which would cost billions of pounds. For a much more modest sum, by providing a relatively short stretch path alongside it, the A75 could be turned into a sustainable route that everyone can use, instead of a barrier to active travel. That seems like a bargain to us. And given both the Scottish Government and the council have declared a climate emergency, then it seems like an obvious way to show that they’re serious about enabling sustainable transport.
