A SIX figure sum will be spent improving part of the Trans Pennine Trail ahead of the iconic Tour de Yorkshire race arriving in Barnsley.
The second day of racing starts in Barnsley town centre on May 4 and follows a route that takes in a large part of the borough for the stage that will be known as ‘Yorkshire Heritage’.
Barnsley Council has agreed to spend £200,000 upgrading a section of the Trans-Pennine Trail between Worsbrough and Wombwell in time for the spectacle as it will be a key access point for the public to watch the race.
The plan is to create more than 2km of all-weather surface alongside the stone and grass bridle way strip between Station Road at Worsbrough and Aldham Junction, north of Wombwell.
The works will be paid for using section 106 cash - which is money set aside by developers as part of planning agreement to offset the impact of a development. The £200,000 contribution was negotiated as part of developments in Wombwell, Kingstone, Lundwood and Monk Bretton.
Coun Roy Miller said the Worsbrough to Wombwell stretch of the trail is one of the poorest sections and if the surface condition is improved it could be a valuable link for leisure and a usable off-road route to get to the developing employment areas in the Dearne Valley.
He said: “The route of the Tour de Yorkshire and the classified King of the Mountains hill climb at Blacker Hill has given added immediate benefit for those coming from Wombwell or along the trail to view the race, as it’s a great, safe way for people to travel.”
Coun Miller said a wide tarmac strip between 1.5m to 1.8m will allow mobility scooters, pushchairs and cyclists to use a clean surface, and that low points and areas of standing water will be filled with stone to provide as level a surface as possible.
The work is being done in three sections starting at the Wombwell end and should be complete by the end of April.
The Tour de Yorkshire race - which coincides with the official Star Wars day - starts at the town hall with riders heading out to towards Penistone via Barugh Green, Cawthorne and Silkstone.
From Penistone the peloton will ride through Oxspring, Thurgoland and Hood Green into Worsbrough.
It leaves Worsbrough skirting Wombwell Woods to Hoyland, where the first mountains classification points are up for grabs at the ‘Cote de Blacker Hill’.
The route continues through Hoyland and Elsecar and on to Wentworth where it turns east and heads to, Hooton Roberts, Conisbrough and Mexborough where it turns north and skirts the borough again east of Goldthorpe and Thurnscoe before heading on through Hemsworth, Pontefract, Castleford, Harewood, Otley, and finishing in Ilkley - 149km in total.
