Connecting with the Community to improve safety

An important route for walkers, cyclists and horse riders has been made safer during recent improvements – and market-leading flexible coupling manufacturer Flexseal has played its part. The Trans Pennine Trail offers 370 miles of largely traffic-free leisure routes, including 215 miles stretching coast to coast from Southport to Hornsea. The route passes directly behind Flexseal’s production facility and Head Office in Wombwell, Barnsley. The improvement project included a new section of the route, which takes users beneath the busy Dearne Valley Parkway at local retail park Cortonwood, instead of forcing them to cross the roadway. The trail narrows where it lies alongside Flexseal’s boundary. At this point, in each direction, the route does cross a roadway – and this is where Flexseal’s assistance was needed. Flexseal relinquished land in order to provide a staging post for horses and their riders, so that they had space to wait safely and comfortably before crossing Wath Road or Meadowgate. Steve Riding, Flexseal's Technical Director, explained, "It's very satisfying to help out the local community. The small piece of land was not important to us but makes a big difference to the people out enjoying the route. Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council recently completed the works including reinstatement of the boundary fences and surrounding landscaping, supported by grants from Sustrans and the Local Sustainable Transport Fund. The new and improved sections of the route were officially opened by the Mayor of Barnsley, Cllr Ken Richardson, on Tuesday 8th April.