Crinan Towpath upgrade

The Crinan Canal, Britain’s most beautiful shortcut, is just as easy to navigate from end to end on boot and bike as it is by boat thanks to an £880,000 investment for towpath upgrades from sustainable transport charity Sustrans Scotland.

Crinan Canal in Scotland provides a strategic long-distance walking and cycling route. Scottish Canals and partners invested over £20million in establishing the canal towpath as an enjoyable, convenient and attractive place to undertake sustainable travel journeys.

Scottish Canals worked closely with Sustrans and other funding sources to continue the investment to improve the experience of active travel and leisure users along the canal towpath.

The Crinan canal provides the most direct link between key trip generators and attractors, creating an attractive alternative to using a car or motorised vehicle for short distance (or even in some cases, long distance) journeys.

The project delivered two missing upgraded links providing active travel users with an uninterrupted bound surfaced towpath from Ardrishaig via Lochgilphead to Crinan. This project within Argyll and Bute Council completed the towpath upgrade from Bellanoch Bridge to Crinan Ferry Bridge (2.17km).

“The Crinan Canal and the surrounding area offer some of the most beautiful scenery in Scotland, the project ensures that as many people as possible can safely enjoy the space for years to come.

The new surface installed throughout the network resulted in increased usage, which is fantastic to see. The upgrades have encouraged even more people to engage in active and healthy lifestyles, whether that’s local people using the path as an alternative to driving short journeys or more cyclists taking on the Route 78 challenge!” -George McBurnie, Project Manager at Scottish Canals 

 

The towpath forms part of the Sustrans National Cycle Network – Route 78 The Caledonia Way – and provides an important link between the villages of Crinan, Bellanoch and Cairnbaan, and the towns of Lochgilphead and Ardrishaig.

Thanks to all our partners below.

“The Crinan Canal and the surrounding area offer some of the most beautiful scenery in Scotland, the project ensures that as many people as possible can safely enjoy the space for years to come. The new surface installed throughout the network resulted in increased usage, which is fantastic to see. The upgrades have encouraged even more people to engage in active and healthy lifestyles, whether that’s local people using the path as an alternative to driving short journeys or more cyclists taking on the Route 78 challenge!” - George McBurnie, Project Manager at Scottish Canals

The towpath forms part of the Sustrans National Cycle Network – Route 78 The Caledonia Way – and provides an important link between the villages of Crinan, Bellanoch and Cairnbaan, and the towns of Lochgilphead and Ardrishaig.

Thanks to all our partners below.

The benefits to people’s health and to the environment of choosing to walk or cycle rather than drive are hugely significant and we look forward to offering our support to other projects of this nature in the future. - Daisy Narayanan, Acting Director at Sustrans Scotland

Notes to Editors

Scottish Canals

Scottish Canals is responsible to the Scottish Government for the management and development of the Union, Monkland, Forth & Clyde, Crinan and Caledonian Canals. As well as the waterways themselves, Scottish Canals care for 251 bridges, 212 buildings, 256 locks, The Falkirk Wheel, The Kelpies and 19 water supply reservoirs in locations across Scotland. The reservoirs cover an area equivalent to 7,494 football pitches and supply the canals with the 332 million litres of water which flow through them each day

The Forth & Clyde, Union and Monkland canals in the Lowlands, the Crinan Canal in Argyll and the Caledonian Canal in the Highlands together extend over 137 miles from coast to coast, across country and into the cities of Edinburgh, Glasgow and Inverness.

Built two hundred years ago to fire the Industrial Revolution, today the canals contribute to the Scottish Government agenda of developing a Greener; Healthier; Smarter; Safer and Stronger; and Wealthier and Fairer Scotland by acting as a catalyst for sustainable economic development, regeneration and tourism; contributing to education, biodiversity, heritage and promoting active living and healthier lifestyles. The Forth & Clyde, Union, Monkland, Caledonian and Crinan canals are recognised as Scheduled Monuments and attract 22million visits per year

For more information, visit www.scottishcanals.co.uk or follow @ScottishCanals on Twitter