Image copyright GoogleA new £100,000 cycle track is to be built on waste land underneath the M32 in Bristol.
It is hoped the Easton bike track will encourage disadvantaged communities in the city to embrace the sport.
Outreach workers will be based there to help hard-to-reach and inactive groups, with equipment available for anyone who needs it.
Work on the 139m-long track is due to start later this year, depending on how long coronavirus pandemic lasts.
Bristol City Council has joined forces with Access Sport to create the “pump park” with funding from Sport England, British Cycling and the London Marathon Charitable Trust.
Lucy Fisher, from Access Sport, said it “will be a great asset for the local community in Easton and the wider area”.
“It will enable the community to have a safe and exciting place to learn to ride and to increase cycling confidence, as well as enabling physical, mental, social and environmental benefits,” she added.
Access Sport will run a free 12-week outreach programme with schools, special educational needs schools and pupil referral units in the area, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.
They will be helped with basic cycling, specific BMX skills, introduction to bike maintenance and personal development skills.
Assessing the application, council officers said the benefits of getting young people active “will potentially outweigh the less ideal air pollution levels” in the area.
Further tracks in this project are planned for Henacre in Lawrence Weston, Hillfields Park and Willmott Park in Hartcliffe.
