The first cycleway to be funded by the Government's Urban Cycleways Programme has been opened by Transport Minister Simon Bridges today.

The opening of the Longburn Shared Pathway in Palmerston North comes just a week after Mr Bridges announced $333 million dollars would be spent on 54 cycleways around the country in the next three years.

Funding for the Longburn Shared Pathway was announced in January along with 12 other projects, while a further 41 projects were announced last week.

'The opening of this cycleway today is proof that the Urban Cycleways Programme is able to get high-quality projects underway much sooner than may otherwise have been the case.

'The $900,000 cost has been split evenly between the Urban Cycleways Fund, the National Land Transport Fund and the Palmerston North City Council – it's a very clever funding mechanism and it's great to see this kind of leveraging producing results this quickly,” Mr Bridges says.

The Shared Pathway runs along State Highway 56 from Longburn Village and connects with the Mangaone Stream Shared Pathway, which also links to the Manawatū River Shared Pathway – projects which are receiving $10.2 million investment under the Urban Cycleways Programme.

'These connections will ultimately form part of the wider Palmerston North Shared Pathway Network for pedestrians and cyclists, and I'm looking forward to seeing this kind of model repeated across the country,” Mr Bridges says.

Source: Office of Simon Bridges.