MAJOR work is due to get underway to make the pedestrian and cycle routes around Newquay Railway Station safer.

Cormac is widening the walking and cycle shared use path built along Narrowcliff beginning at the junction of Edgecumbe Avenue to The Barrowfields as part of the Mid Cornwall Metro scheme.

The company will be setting up the site from Monday, January 6, and is due to complete this phase of work at the end of March 2025.

The Mid Cornwall Metro is a £57-million investment to upgrade the current rail links between four of Cornwall’s largest towns: Newquay, St Austell, Truro, and Falmouth and Penryn. The scheme will aim to help residents better connect to employment, education and key services.

A spokesperson for Newquay BID said: “The Mid Cornwall Metro rail service improvements will mean more people will be traveling to and from Newquay train station. The Active Travel enhancements will mean that roads leading to the station will be safer for pedestrians and cyclists. “The enhancements will begin with the removal of the centre island on Cliff Road at the Edgcumbe Avenue junction. This will allow for the footway from Rocklands back to the pedestrian crossing adjacent to Ulalia Road, to be widened to allow for walking and cycling.

“The existing granite kerb stones will be removed and set aside for re-use on a later phase of the project, the carriageway narrowed, then resurfaced and road markings installed.

“A new island will be installed within the Edgcumbe Avenue junction itself, to prevent right turns. “For Cormac's staff safety, three-way traffic lights will be in place on the Edgcumbe Avenue junction. Then later, two-way lights on Narrowcliff where we’ll be widening the footway as it joins the Barrowfields path.

“The lights will be manually operated during peak times and every effort will be made to keep traffic flowing and disruption to a minimum.”

Phase two of the scheme, which is currently being designed and will be consulted on early next year, will extend the walking and cycle path along Edgecumbe Avenue to Oakleigh Terrace and provide more crossing points.