Walking and Cycling
The District Council has promoted its Cycling Strategy for over 40 years, introducing many new and improved routes to make cycling and walking easier, often in partnership with Hertfordshire County Council and other local organisations.
We want to enable and encourage people of all abilities to use their bike to get around - particularly people who do not often ride a bike. We also want to make walking easier for everyone.
Start walking and cycling more around
the Three Rivers District
Take a look at our local cycling and walking knowledge base to help you get around. Let us know if you have any useful contributions. Use this page to find out more about promoted routes and support, or contact TPP@threerivers.gov.uk - new and current schemes are listed in the section below.
Three Rivers Cycling Strategy
The District Council has developed and promoted its Cycling Strategy since 1981 with visible success in creating and improving the cycle routes it promotes across the Three Rivers District.
The map below shows the proposed promoted network, which is planned to link homes with workplaces, schools and key destinations. You can download the current Three Rivers Walking & Cycling Strategy here. This Strategy is supported by the Southwest Hertfordshire Cycle Study 2013, published by Hertfordshire County Council which you can download here.
The strategy will be supplemented by our emerging Local Cycling & Walking Infrastructure plan, under development and due to be published in 2022 - more information is available here.
Recent schemes to enable and encourage local cycling and walking
Croxley Green Walking Wayfinding Scheme
New way finder signs are being introduced across Croxley Green to promote local visitor destinations and encourage people to walk rather than drive.
The Three Rivers District Council funded scheme will provide regular directions and estimated walking times displayed on around 50 street name signs.
The signs show people how easy it is walk to local destinations as an alternative to using a car, and are designed to help change popular perceptions that local places are too far to walk to. This is based on the principle that people are more likely to walk if they know how long it will take, rather than how far it is.
The new directional signing project – which has previously been piloted in Abbots Langley – is also designed to reduce street clutter by minimising the number of posts at junctions. Traditional pedestrian signing schemes typically use directional arrows on finger posts sited at road junctions – under the new scheme street names plates and directional arrows will be combined.
Due to the lower cost, more directions can be included along the route, designating clear routes that are easy to follow. As the street naming authority, the district council is responsible for placing street name plates to help people find their way around the local area. Similar signs are already in use throughout Watford borough.
The council promotes the use of more sustainable ways to travel, helping towards improving the local economy and creating a safe, attractive, healthy and high quality local environment.
The new signs are due to be installed over the coming weeks and months, and may be installed in other areas of Three Rivers district subject to future funding.
People are being invited to take part in the Community Streets Audit by Three Rivers District Council to find out what residents and visitors think works well, and what can be improved for walkers.
The council is conducting the audit in partnership with national charity Living Streets – which has been campaigning for better streets over the past 90 years, as well as running the largest national Walk to School Campaign.
Six proposed ‘Walking Zones’ will be surveyed over the summer by Living Streets along with groups of local volunteers to produce assessments of the quality of the walking environment in Abbots Langley, Chorleywood, Croxley Green, Rickmansworth, Sarratt, South Oxhey.
Community Street Audits are a method for evaluating the quality of public space –streets, housing estates, parks, and squares – from the viewpoint of the people who use it most. The surveys will result in recommendations for change, action and improvement to inform new highway schemes and local streetscape improvements to make local towns better for everyone to walk around.
Easier access to town centres and retail parades will be enabled by identifying physical and other barriers to access for people walking, using passenger transport or walking from car parks to visit shops and services.
Views can be shared by taking part in an online survey before 30 September: Three Rivers District Council Core Walking Zone Survey
For further information contact: Sian.Stanton@livingstreets.org.uk or Neelam.Bhardwaj@livingstreets.org.uk
New cycle parking
New parking is being introduced around the District - you can see our familiar Green cycle stands outside stations and at busy shopping parades and town centres.
New cycle parking capacity has been introduced at Croxley and Rickmansworth Stations, which were identified in our Strategic Review of Cycle Parking. More is planned for town centres and key destinations in Three Rivers, through our Cycling & Walking Strategy and the Retail Parade Revitalisation programme.
New proposals to enable and encourage local cycling and walking
- Abbots Langley and Bedmond - Proposed local route to make it easier to walk and bike, with a focus on school travel.
- Rickmansworth and Chorleywood - Proposed alternative routes to busy main road.
- Carpenders Park and Bushey High Street - Proposed links to existing Greenways Network.
- Kings Langley (Primrose Hill) and Apsley, on to Hemel Hempstead - Final northbound link in the Grand Union Canal towpath route, connecting local settlements.
Promoted local cycle and walking routes
The District Council works to improve local routes, often working alongside other public bodies such as Hertfordshire County Council, the Canal & River Trust or Transport for London. Current proposals to improve local cycling and walking routes are shown below.
Recent improvements include the 5 miles of wider, level, surfaced promoted routes on and around the Grand Union Canal towpath (Croxley Green to Kings Langley), the South Way cycleway and new high-density cycle parking at key destinations in Rickmansworth and Croxley Green.
The Grand Union Canal towpath now provides a nearly traffic-free route that connects Croxley Green, western Watford, Hunton Bridge, Kings Langley and Nash Mills with Hemel Hempstead. The South Way Cycleway connects the improved towpath with Abbots Langley, Leavesden and into Garston on a nearly traffic-free shared footway and bridleway.
The Ebury Way (Traffic-free route from Rickmansworth to Watford) - The Ebury Way Map (pdf)
The Ebury Way is an important local traffic-free path for cyclists, walkers, and horse-riders. it is heavily used by people travelling to school, work and for recreation. Cycling is permitted along the whole length but horse-riders are restricted to the eastern part between Moor Lane Crossing and Rickmansworth.
The Way forms part of the largely traffic-free National Cycle Network created by Sustrans, the NCN Route 6 from London Paddington to Keswick, via Watford, Luton, Milton Keynes, Northampton, Market Harborough, Leicester, Derby, Nottingham, Worksop, Sheffield, Manchester, Blackburn, Preston, Lancaster, Kendal and Windermere.
For more information visit Sustrans, the charity making it easier for people to walk and cycle, at Sustrans.org.uk.
This path uses the old Ebury Railway embankment to cross the Colne, Chess and Gade rivers as well as the Grand Union Canal. You can find out about the former railway at the Hertfordshire Archives website managed by Hertfordshire County Council.
The Grand Union Canal towpath route - a level, traffic-free path connecting six local settlements, along this beautiful waterway
This key route for people cycling and walking connects many local settlements including Rickmansworth, Croxley Green, Watford, Hunton Bridge and Kings Langley. It is a shared surface, used by many people for a variety of waterside activities and managed by the Canal and River Trust (CRT), which promotes its Share the Space campaign.
The new wide level surface has been delivered by Three Rivers District Council and partners, with around 9 kilometres (about 5.5 miles) of towpath upgraded through six phases, since 2013. The Grand Union Canal towpath also runs southwards from Rickmansworth towards Harefield and on into central London where it joins the Regents Canal running through the heart of the Capital.
Partners include the CRT and Hertfordshire County Council, which released planning obligation funding that had been collected by the District Council to improve local infrastructure in response to new property development.
Cycle parking provided for local town and village centres
Three Rivers (together with Hertfordshire County Council) provides cycle stands around the District to help support people who want to cycle to local shops, workplaces and other services. Use this map to find details:
Leavesden Cycle Hub
Located in the new Community building in Leavesden Country Park off of College Road in Abbots Langley, Leavesden Cycle Hub offers a range of facilities including servicing and repairs, bike hire, bike registering, reconditioned bike sales and cycle tuition for children and adults.
To find out more about Leavesden Cycle Hub or book on to any of their courses visit https://watfordcyclehub.org.uk.
Bikeability audits of local paths
An audit classifying roads, paths and crossings in terms of the UK National Cycle Training Standard (Bikeability) Level needed to be able to ride in comparative safety.
Cycling consultation map key (doc)
- CSNA - Abbots Langley (pdf)
- CSNA - Woodside (Watford) (pdf)
- CSNA - Abbots Langley and Woodside (pdf)
- CSNA - Chorleywood (pdf)
- CSNA - Croxley Green (pdf)
- CSNA - Maple Cross (pdf)
- CSNA - Rickmansworth (pdf)
- CSNA - Chorleywood, Croxley Green and Rickmansworth (pdf)
Feedback on cycling and walking routes
If you have any specific requests to improve walking, cycling or sustainable travel, we would be very pleased to receive them at tpp@threerivers.gov.uk
For Highways fault reporting (potholes, ponding and faulty street lights) please visit the Hertfordshire County Council website
Cycling