'Boris bike' scheme set to launch at Marlow's Globe Business Park to cut traffic

Around 40 bicycles are going to be brought in as part of a delayed scheme that is supposed to launch in May – inspired by the success of the public bicycle hire scheme in London that launched when Boris Johnson was mayor.

Globe Business Park is a major employment centre in the town with hundreds of businesses – with thousands of employees – based there, but with it comes congestion and parking problems.

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The Globe Business Park BID – which manages the site – has been working hard to tackle the long-running issues with traffic jams and bad parking, including getting double yellow lines put in on certain roads and adding more than 400 new parking spaces in for employees who drive to the site.

Double yellow lines were put in to stop the problems

Margaret McCarthy, the BID manager, told councillors on the High Wycombe committee that they have suffered “critical issues” with congestion, particularly around the Fieldhouse Lane area, which is in the centre of the business park.

She said: “We had some safety critical points in the central part of the park where cars were parking on corners and HGVs would come into the site, not be able to get around and it would all come to a complete standstill.

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“We got a traffic regulation order in and got double yellow lines put in. although this has displaced about 40 vehicles, it has been hugely successful – every business on site has been delighted that traffic can now move. It has made a huge difference to how the site can operate.

“It was anticipated it would be unpopular but it was quite the opposite.”

Another of the Globe Park BID’s plans to further reduce congestion is a cycle scheme – aimed at those who either get public transport to work or car share, it would give workers the opportunity to take a bike at lunch time to head into town.

Ms McCarthy explained: “One of our key projects is a cycle scheme – a Boris bike type scheme. We’ll have about 40 cycles on site and we’re hoping that will go live in May this year.

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“Unfortunately it has been delayed for a couple of years but this is long-awaited and we’re anticipating this will be really popular.

“It’s primarily aimed at reducing congestion on site, so for instance if you come by public transport or get a lift into work but you still want to pop into town or the park, you can use a bike for that.

“It has a huge potential to expand out to create electric bikes for longer journeys.”