This map comes from the 2026 Delivery Plan for Transport consultation and shows the current suggested strategic network. These are routes that WMCA thinks are important for connecting together the West Midlands for cycling. The important thing to note is that the red lines are not canals or parks, but rather on the highway network, where WMCA thinks that they need to deliver 'high quality segregated cycle route provision' (their words, not ours). The network plan has flaws - we can all think of at least one important road or two that is missing - but the scale of ambition, compared with our current situation, is impressive. If this network ever makes it into local councils' plans, that is.
