A STUDY on how to create a new cycle route from Stroud to Chalford could soon be launched.

Parish councils have been deciding whether to band together to investigate how the A419 - also known as London Road - might be improved for cyclists.

Two of them - Stroud town and Chalford - had meetings last week where councillors considered backing such a study.

“Going between here and Stroud on a bike is a deathtrap,” said Karen Witney, a parish councillor for Chalford, at their monthly meeting where her and colleagues agreed in principle to pay a share towards the cycling study.

“We’re very fortunate no one from the village has been killed.”

The study would look at alternative routes to the canal towpath that runs to and from Stroud, according to Liz Baldwin, the Chalford parish councillor who presented the idea at the meeting.

This would include investigating how cyclists could be protected by being outright separated from cars on the route, rather than just cutting the road’s speed limit.

It would also see if there would be any knock-on effects from the route, like pushing more traffic towards the common.

However, though parish councils are the ones putting money towards a study, the actual cost of any revamp of the A419 would be borne by the county council, which manages highways.

“So it’s not going to happen, basically,” replied councillor Isabelle Preece when she learned who had to pay.

This did not dissuade councillor David Wood.

Backing the plan, he said: “Part of getting our emissions down is building more cycle tracks.

“Even if this scheme gets mothballed, the pressure of climate change will eventually mean something has to be done - and we would have done all the groundwork already.”

Support for the study was also seen at Stroud town council earlier this week, though councillors wanted guarantees that the county council would match any money for the study.