TREFOREST
New route gets people active in Treforest



A new walking and cycling route linking communities in South Wales was officially opened on Tuesday 19th June as part of a colourful event to celebrate Bike Week and life on two wheels.

The Treforest Community Route is a beautiful traffic-free walking and cycling path between Treforest and Tonteg, which will provide local people and visitors to the area the chance to enjoy healthy, affordable and scenic journeys without having to reach for their car keys.

The ceremony started at the bottom of the new walking and cycling ramp at the start of this traffic free trail at Treforest Cllr Andrew Morgan, Cabinet Member for Frontline Services for Rhondda Cynon Taf and Chair of the South East Transport Alliance (Sewta) officially opened the route along with Pontypridd AM Mick Antoniw and Sustrans Cymru Director, Lee Waters.

Children from local primary schools St Michael's and Parc Lewis and pupils from Pontypridd High led a bike ride towards the Portrait Bench, the fabulous new artwork for Treforest which features life-size steel portraits of local heroes Sir Tom Jones OBE, John Hughes MBE - founder of the Grogg Shop in Treforest and James James - composer of the Welsh National Anthem.

Sir Tom Jones OBE said, "I'm happy to be part of the Treforest Community Route. It's a great way of encouraging people to go for a bike ride or take a walk. The portrait bench looks great and hopefully will be enjoyed by many."

Rachel Lister, Project Manager for Sustrans Cymru said, "This is an exciting walking and cycling link between Treforest and the popular Church Village Community Route. The combined routes offer fantastic opportunities for people to explore this part of the Valleys, and feature two interesting pieces of artwork, an array of biodiversity and spectacular views." Both routes are part of an exciting 3- year project delivered by Sustrans and local authorities to extend the current 400km of National Cycle Network in the south Wales Valleys by an additional 100km."