New Guardbridge park and pedal facility

As part of the Guardbridge Energy Centre project the University of St Andrews is launching a free Park and Pedal scheme to help commuters beat the traffic and get fit.

The A919 is closed to allow pipework to be laid between Guardbridge and St Andrews, carrying hot water to university buildings in St Andrews.

The scheme will run from today (Monday) until the end of the road closure at Guardbridge, scheduled for April 8.

The university is offering free bicycle rentals and safety equipment or commuters can use their own bikes and equipment. Commuters will be able to use free, secure car parking and a sheltered bicycle store.

A dedicated car park, located opposite the Guardbridge Mill Clock, will allow cyclists to park their cars in safely and cycle on to St Andrews. A sheltered bicycle store is available in the car park which will be open from 6am to 9pm seven days a week.

Cycling between St Andrews and Guardbridge takes around 25 minutes, along the cycle path adjacent to the main St Andrews–Guardbridge road (A91) which is segregated from traffic.

And for the less experienced cyclists, led rides will run weekly.

The £25 million energy project will see hot water from a biomass boiler using clean, natural fuel pumped underground from Guardbridge to St Andrews where it will heat University buildings. The project will create hundreds of constructions jobs, reduce university energy costs, cut carbon emissions by 6000 tonnes a year and pave the way for more than 250 University staff to relocate to Guardbridge, breathing new life into the former paper mill and surrounding area.

Full details of the Park and Pedal scheme can be found on the University website at http://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/about/sustainability/guardbridge/park-and-pedal/.