WORK has started on creating a cycleway through the heart of Letchworth GC. For the first time in four decades, it will be legal for pedal-pushers to go through Norton Common on their bikes. Environmental group Groundwork Hertfordshire has begun work on t

WORK has started on creating a cycleway through the heart of Letchworth GC.

For the first time in four decades, it will be legal for pedal-pushers to go through Norton Common on their bikes.

Environmental group Groundwork Hertfordshire has begun work on the project, in partnership with Hertfordshire Highways, to build two new sections of off-road cycleway.

One is through the common and the other at Fox Field between the garden city and Willian.

They will link in with the on-road sections of the route being built by Hertfordshire Highways.

The new cycleway is part of a scheme to create a National Cycle Network route through the town, giving safe and easy access for cyclists and linking to existing cycle paths, the Garden City Greenway and the Great North Way, that can take cyclists north and south of the town.

Other partners in the project, which is expected to be completed in May, are Letchworth Garden City Heritage Foundation and North Hertfordshire District Council.

Geoff Watkins, operations project officer at Groundwork Hertfordshire, said: "This project will provide a huge boost for cyclists, giving them access across Letchworth town centre. We hope the cycleway will encourage more people to get on their bikes and explore Letchworth and its open spaces."

County councillor Stuart Pile, executive member for transportation and environment, said: "This is a great example of partnership working for the benefit of the whole community.

"I hope this is the first of many such projects. The new route will provide better access across the town for cyclists, and if we can encourage more people to cycle, the environmental benefits could be significant.