Active travel route between the Skye Bridge and Broadford, enabling local residents and visitors to safely walk, wheel and cycle the main route to Skye, avoiding the dangerous trunk road.
Estimated Cost
£8,000,000
What we want to do
We want to provide a safe active travel route for all – walkers, wheelers and cyclists - between the Skye Bridge and Broadford. This important strategic link will connect communities, improve local access, encourage low-carbon travel, improve safety, support health & wellbeing, and act as a catalyst for future active travel projects. It will grow the local economy by creating an attractive route for cycle touring with benefits to local businesses, being the first part of an extensive cycle network across Skye. It will reduce rural disadvantage on an island with no safe routes for everyday cycling.
We are currently prioritising Phase 1 of the route, Kyleakin roundabout (at the end of the Skye Bridge) to Ashaig. Here we want to construct an accessible path alongside the A87 trunk road, as far as possible by re-using the disused old road. Subsequent phases will bring the path into the Broadford 30 mph zone.
Why this is important for our community
This is a community-initiated project with huge public support. Progress has been driven largely by volunteers and there has been extensive public consultation. It features in the 'Skye & Raasay Future' Area Place Plan and aligns with several of that Plan's outcomes including Climate Action and Resilience, Diverse and Green Economy, and Transport Infrastructure. The project is also highlighted as a community priority in the Broadford & Strath Local Place Plan and BSCC's 'Paths for People' community paths report (2024).
We have a vision for Skye as a place where people can get around easily on foot or by bike, where people want to live and visit because they are able to slow down and fully experience island life. This project is the first part of a wider cycle network that will deliver large-scale transformational change with long-term benefits to the island economy and to the everyday lives of residents. Creating a cycling economy on Skye will encourage opportunities for additional investment in cycle maintenance, sales, hires and tours, as well as benefits to local cafes, restaurants, accommodation providers and producers on the island. It will help address the failure of car-based tourism and car dependence which has led to our roads and spaces being dominated by vehicles and unsafe for local people to get around except by car.
Positive impact
Skye Cycle Way: Bridge to Broadford Path will:
Enable people to use active travel methods to safely commute and access services
Link fragmented rural communities to each other and to the service centres at either end, including rail station in Kyle
Empower people without cars, typically younger people and those on low incomes, and disabled people including those using mobility scooters
Encourage more sustainable tourism in Scotland’s second most popular tourist destination
Lessen the likelihood of fatalities on this dangerous stretch of road
Support health and wellbeing by providing safe, active and enjoyable leisure activities for all, including children & young people and families
Provide a key first link and catalyst for a wider active travel network on Skye
Key milestones
2017: Start of a series of public meetings; volunteer working group set up under BSCC umbrella.
2018: Community survey indicates strong desire and need for path. Funding from Sustrans supports employment of Project Officer to work with volunteer working group.
2019 – 2024: Path progressed through initial concept designs to RIBA Stage 3. Community engagement throughout – for details see BSCC website. Work included technical studies and extensive stakeholder engagement. Work supported by Sustrans Places for Everyone programme.
2025: Decision taken to split project into phases and focus on Phase 1, Kyleakin to Ashaig. BSCC hand project management responsibility to regional transport partnership HITRANS, with BSCC represented on steering group. HITRANS secure funding from Active Travel Infrastructure Fund (ATIF) to further progress design of Phase 1.
2026: Seek up to £1M in match funding from Regeneration Capital Grant Fund and/or other sources to support our bid to Transport Scotland’s Active Travel Infrastructure Fund (ATIF) for construction of the path to begin in 2027.
Next steps and key dates
Finalise technical design of Phase 1 (Funding bid to ATIF submitted): 2026-27
Secure £1M in match funding to support bid to Transport Scotland’s ATIF and to enable construction of the path to begin in 2027.
Issue tenders and construct Phase 1: 2027-28
Finalise designs for Phases 2 / 3 – Ashaig to Broadford: date TBC
.png)
Most voted