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Essex County Council (ECC) and London Marathon Events (LME) have announced key updates for RideLondon-Essex 2023.
One day event
- World’s greatest festival of cycling returns to Essex on Sunday 28 May 2023
- The route for RideLondon-Essex is confirmed and includes Epping, Ongar, Leaden Roding, Great Dunmow, Felsted and Writtle
- Wide range of changes and improvements planned after extensive period of engagement with Essex residents, businesses and communities
- Continued engagement with communities planned for the New Year
- RideLondon-Essex positively supports the delivery of the Everyone’s Essex objectives for economy, health and the environment.
The inaugural edition of RideLondon-Essex took place in May 2022 with more than 22,000 cyclists of all ages, abilities and backgrounds taking part, raising millions of pounds for more than 400 charities along the way.
A second year of the partnership between ECC and LME will see this inspiring event return to Essex in 2023, with an estimated 25,000 cyclists expected to take part in the RideLondon-Essex 100 or 60 mile challenge rides. Once again, the event will showcase Essex to national and international audiences increasing tourism, and opportunities for investment to support the economic growth of the county.
Funding to support activities across the county
As a direct result of the partnership, Essex now benefits from significant funding from the London Marathon Charitable Trust to support physical activity and sport opportunities across the county, and especially to areas along the route. Following the event in May, £1M has been allocated to scale up the Essex Pedal Power initiative to make cycling more inclusive, increase active travel (walking and cycling) opportunities in schools, and power a small grants programme for Essex projects.
So far more than 80 applications have been approved, helping support young people, women and girls, less affluent communities and older residents to get moving in their local area. Groups, clubs and individuals can still apply through the Find Your Active Small Grants at Find Your Active Fund – Active Essex
Event review
An extensive event review and community engagement process took place after this year’s event which included meetings, surveys and drop-in sessions with residents, businesses, local councils, stakeholders and ride participants. ECC and LME have now agreed the route for the 2023 mass participation rides will remain the same with the addition of a range of enhancements and improvements developed from the feedback and engagement process, including:
- Improved local access plans for communities on the route
- Increased provision of managed vehicle crossing points on the route
- Additional local drop-in sessions in February for further engagement with residents and businesses
- Enhanced engagement programme with businesses on the route to plan ahead
- Working with schools and community groups on the route to develop cycling and active travel initiatives around RideLondon-Essex
Beneficial for businesses, residents and communities
Councillor Lee Scott, Essex County Council’s Cabinet Member for Highways Maintenance and Sustainable Transport said:
RideLondon-Essex 2022 was a successful event, but we want to make RideLondon-Essex 2023 even better. With the changes we’ve put in place, we’re confident of delivering an event which will greatly benefit businesses, residents and communities.
With our beautiful countryside and picturesque villages, RideLondon-Essex showcases the best of the county to a national and international audience, helping to boost business and tourism in the county. It also aligns with our Everyone’s Essex objectives promoting physical activity to encourage healthy lifestyles and promoting walking and cycling as part of a move towards Net Zero.
RideLondon-Essex route
The 2023 RideLondon-Essex route enters Essex through Epping Forest, continuing through central Epping, Ongar, Leaden Roding, Great Dunmow, Felsted and Writtle before returning to Ongar and heading back into London. The route has been confirmed because it has the least impact on the strategic road network in the county, includes roads wide enough to accommodate both emergency vehicles and cyclists and offers the greatest number of access options for residents.
Leaflets will be delivered to homes and businesses on or near the route in January and March. The most up-to-date information is available on the Community Info page on the RideLondon website www.ridelondon.co.uk/community-info/community-info
Kevin Nash, Route Director, said:
We’ve been working hard since the first RideLondon-Essex was held back in May to complete a review of the route and collate as much information and feedback on the event as possible from as many individuals, communities, businesses and stakeholders as possible.
This has been invaluable as we work with Essex County Council to shape our plans for the 2023 RideLondon-Essex events. Our engagement work with communities on or near the route continues in the New Year to build awareness and ensure a safe and successful event on 28 May 2023.
Enter the RideLondon-Essex 60
Entries for the RideLondon-Essex 100 have sold out and entries for the RideLondon-Essex 60 will open in the New Year.
For more information visit the RideLondon website.
To contact the organisers of RideLondon-Essex please visit the RideLondon website or write to RideLondon Customer Services, 190 Great Dover Street, London SE1 4YB.
Sign up for regular updates on road closures and other event news by registering at ridelondon.co.uk/road-closures-updates.
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