“It’s the simple things that make a big difference” – improving the Liverpool Loop Line

Our team in the North of England have been working to improve the Liverpool Loop Line and make it more accessible to all.

We returned there with journalist and handcyclist Ellis Palmer to see the access improvements firsthand.

He explains why taking out path barriers and upgrading surfaces are crucial in helping disabled people lead more active, healthy lives.

Find out more about our work to create paths for everyone: https://www.sustrans.org.uk/about-us/paths-for-everyone

So for me using my hand cycle as a way of getting around is just it’s Independence it’s being able to get from A to B to C under my own steam it’s being able to go and meet friends at the coffee shop or go to the train station sometimes said it’s for simple

Things that can make a big difference to disabled people’s experience using walking and cycling routes and certainly the work that’s been done here at mil Lan on Liverpool root line typifies that I got up there up the top of the ramp today and I thought this is a different

Route the one I was on 2 years ago it just felt completely different there’s no longer that narrow cha that narrow passageway to turn into it was easy to get on easy to get off so we’ve worked with SRA Str um to do a number of things particularly

Improving the access point along the loop line improving some of the pathways and some Works around the Sandstone walls making sure that they’re preserved I think a really big impact that I’ve seen is around the accessibility of the loop line so I’ve got some friends who are wheelchair users that live locally

In in West ARB and notash that have for the first time been able to actually come on the loop line and use it and it’s it’s such a great space that it’s important that everyone’s able to access it the new the new improvements are so great and I didn’t I wasn’t actually

Expecting them so one day they were just there making the changes and I was like oh I wonder what they’re doing and then when they they left it was so much better cuz it used to be you had to hang on to the barrier in order to not slide

And sort of twist as you went because it went very very steeply suddenly and now it’s actually just normal road you can just go up you can just come down really good and there got it’s got the those tiles with the little ridges on so that

You don’t even if it’s wet you don’t just slide suddenly because you’re on asphalt so it makes a massive difference for me with the barriers being removed it allows people to get themselves onto the loop line un AED obviously if you are trying to get a wheelchair or an

Adapted cycle through a a Turn Style it’s not going to work so it gives people Independence to be able to go and ride without needing somebody else to go and lift the bike on for them it’s about one barrier it’s about the thousands of barriers that exist on active travel

Routes up and down the country uh sometimes it’s small things as well like improving signage and improving uh route mapping and Route finding that can make active travel routes a lot more accessible to people who are deaf disabled neurod diversion or otherwise just need a bit of help and support to

Be able to use their local active travel rout for