British Cycling says targeting of A63 stretch once used by Bradley Wiggins is deeply concerning

This article is more than 2 years old

This article is more than 2 years old

Cyclists may be banned from a stretch of the A63 near Hull which was once used by the Olympian Bradley Wiggins, in a move described as deeply concerning by the sport’s governing body.

Highways England has applied for a traffic regulation order to stop cyclists using part of the road which is regarded as the fastest 10-mile time trial course in the UK.

The agency said it was seeking the ban “in the interests of road safety” after six crashes involving cyclists and vehicles in the past five years, including one fatal collision.

However, the move was criticised by British Cycling and Welcome to Yorkshire, which said the county risked losing its reputation as the “cycling capital of Europe” if it went ahead.

The British Cycling chief executive, Julie Harrington, said the order would set an “extremely dangerous precedent” if approved.

“We believe that this response is disproportionate given the small number of collisions involving cyclists on this route, especially when there are far more incidents involving just cars,” she said.

Harrington said any ban would directly contradict the government’s cycling and walking investment strategy, which seeks to double the number of trips cycled by 2026, and Highways England’s cycling strategy.

Wiggins, the Tour de France winner and Olympic cyclist, rode on the A63 in May 2015.

The stretch has reportedly been the scene of hundreds of personal bests and several competition records, including the current men’s and women’s 10-mile time trial records, held by Marcin Białobłocki and Hayley Simmonds.

British Cycling and Welcome to Yorkshire said the relatively small number of crashes involving cyclists contrasted nearly 300 crashes involving vehicles on the route over the same period.

In 2013, a coroner’s court returned a finding of accidental death after the cyclist Christopher Auker, 65, died on the A63 following a collision with a stationary caravan while competing in a time trial. His widow, Elizabeth Auker, reportedly said after the inquest that it was “a freak accident that could not have been foreseen and nothing to do with the time trial course”.

The Highways England application is backed by Humberside police, East Riding of Yorkshire council and Kingston upon Hull city council.

PC Darren Storr, of Humberside police’s traffic management unit, said the stretch of road was “not deemed to be a safe and appropriate environment for such activities to take place”.