A TAVISTOCK paramedic is gearing up his campaign this week to have a cycle path laid between Yelverton and Roborough to help prevent road accidents on the dangerous moorland stretch of the A386. Keen cyclist Andy Jane, who works at Tavistock Ambulance Station, would like to see a 1.8-mile path on the west side of the road from Dartmoor Diner to Yelverton Golf Club. Such a path is estimated to cost between £600,000 to £750,000 but Mr Jane is hoping to get the support of Devon County Council, Plymouth City Council and other relevant organisations for financial backing. Mr Jane, 49, who has cycled most of his life and has pedalled from John O Groats to Land's End with colleagues from Tavistock to raise money for defibrillators in ambulances, said the road had claimed the lives of six motorcyclists and one jogger in accidents during the past five years — some of which he himself attended. He said: 'This busy fast road has had many central reservations added, creating "pinch points" where large vehicles cannot overtake slow moving cyclists. 'I have attended many road accidents along this road and I am in favour of a dedicated cyclepath being placed beside the A386 between the Dartmoor Diner and Golf Links Road at Chubb Tor. 'A direct cycle path alongside this busy road would encourage people to commute who would otherwise consider it too dangerous. 'As well as the road safety issue there is the important green issue and the rising cost of fuel and road tax. 'Let's get something done before we miss this opportunity and someone else gets injured.' A spokesman for Devon County Council described Mr Jane's proposals as 'helpful and logical' and the council is now considering them, along with current other cycling route initiatives. He said: 'There are different ways of achieving the same thing and my colleagues are considering the different possibilities of a cycling route. 'An ideal route would be one parallel to the A386, but whether that is achievable I am not sure.' The spokesman said factors to take into consideration with Mr Jane's proposed route would be that part of it would be over private land roads and there would be some hilly gradients for cyclist to negotiate. The council said it wanted to encourage more commuters to get out of their cars and use public transport or cycle to work. There is an existing Yelverton to Clearbrook cycle path, part of the recently installed Drake's Trail, which is a flat, even surface which leads down to Coypool; but for those cyclists who wish to go into the city via Roborough this could be extended so a path leads to the Dartmoor Diner. However, the spokesman said, the last thing the county council wanted was for cyclists to get to that point and find the trail ended abruptly. He said: 'What we want is a safe, efficient and effective way of securing a route from Yelverton all the way down to Bellever roundabout.' Mr Jane urged Times readers who consider riding to work, if there was a suitable direct cycle path, or any car or lorry drivers who feel cyclists should be off the road for safety reasons, to email him at [email protected]">[email protected]
