Plans to improve cycling and walking routes along part of the River Severn in Shrewsbury are likely to be a priority after a £1 million scheme was approved, it was revealed today.

Transport bosses see a scheme for the town’s Smithfield Road area as vitally important.

People in Shropshire will find that walking and cycling will be an “easy way” of going to work and school, as soon as a nationwide scheme which has won £50 million of lottery funding is completed, delighted managers said today.Sustrans: Connect2 made the vow after the scheme beat competition from a shortlist of three rival bids to secure more than 40 per cent of the votes in The People’s £50 Million Lottery Contest.

The scheme will see 79 projects to improve cycling and walking routes across the country, including one in Shropshire, which will receive £500,000 to put towards the £1 million needed for its scheme.

Sustrans chief executive John Grimshaw said: “There are 79 towns and settlements which are just going to be changed, I think, out of all recognition. I think this is the start of our culture changing. This gives us all a chance to start again at a personal level and make our own contribution. I think it is hugely important.”

The Connect2 project will cost £140 million, of which £50 million will be Lottery money, with the rest from other sources.

Mr Grimshaw added: “Our ambition is that, when you wake up in the morning, walking and cycling will be so obviously an easy way of going to work and the shops and to school.”

Councillor John Everall, the county council’s cabinet member for environment and sustainability, praised people for their support in helping the national scheme to secure 42 per cent of the 286,285 votes adding: “We simply couldn’t have done it without you and your votes. I’d also like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who put in so much effort to make this possible.”

Daniel Kawczynski, MP for Shrewsbury and Atcham, welcomed the news that the scheme had won as it will enable a number of improvements for Shrewsbury including cycling and walking routes and a riverside promenade. He said: “Anything that enables more walking and cycling to take place in Shrewsbury is very good news.

“We want Shrewsbury to be perceived around the country as being a pioneering town for encouraging walking and cycling.

“This is a good way of managing transport which is getting involved in voluntary projects that make it easier to use bicycles and to walk in a safer environment.”

Funding will be transferred to Sustrans for the scheme over the course of five years, starting in 2008.

The Sustrans bid beat competition from the Black Country Urban Park to open up underground caves at Wrens Nest in Dudley, the expansion of The Eden Project in Cornwall, and a “Living Legend” tourism initiative in Sherwood Forest for the Big Lottery Fund cash. The benefits in brief

The benefits for Shrewsbury include:

• Safe crossings for pedestrians and cyclists at various locations.
• A riverside promenade along Smithfield Road with public art/interpretation signs.
• Walking and cycling routes to areas of new housing.
• A clean-up of the area under the railway bridge at Castle Gates.
• An “attractive route” along the old canal between the Canal Tavern in New Park Road and the Flaxmill.
• Walking and cycling routes linking Greenfields to Herongate and the back of the Flaxmill.
• Improvements to personal security with better lighting and upgraded paths.