BLACKWEIR Bridge in Cardiff's Bute Park could soon be replaced with a wider bridge as part of major upgrades to active travel across Cardiff.

The suspension bridge joins Pontcanna Fields with Blackweir Fields and is a key route over the river Taff for walkers and cyclists.

The bridge would be upgraded to meet active travel guidance standards, as part of a series of schemes to improve walking and cycling routes across the city.

Cardiff council has launched a public consultation on its ‘draft active travel map’, a legal requirement for local authorities showing where routes could be improved.

Other potential upgrades include a segregated cycle lane looping around the city centre; improving the Millenium Bridge which joins Sophia Gardens with Bute Park; widening the narrow path alongside the Nos Da hostel in Riverside; realigning and widening the Taff Trail through Hailey Park in Llandaff North; and improving the Rhymney and Ely Trails too.

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Further work includes linking the 130 schools in Cardiff to the active travel network, making it easier for pupils to walk and cycle safely to school.

The consultation started on Monday, August 9 and will run until October 31. Then transport planners at the council will revise the map before submitting it to the Welsh Government in December.

Just over three out of 10 journeys to work in Cardiff are currently made on foot or by bike, but the council has a target to increase this to 43 per cent by 2030.

According to a freedom of information request, no complete designs or plans have been drawn up yet for replacing Blackweir Bridge, but the council has been given funding to look at what options are feasible for a replacement.

The council did not answer questions on when the bridge would be replaced, but documents show the scheme is “in development”.

Blackweir Bridge was shut for a large part of last year after vandals torched a motorbike underneath it and major floods caused a tree washing down the river to damage meshing on the bridge. The council said it was also due to people “not socially distancing” on the bridge.