To ask the Minister for Infrastructure for an update on her Department’s plans to provide active travel routes in the South Antrim constituency.

Future active travel routes within our towns and cities will be prioritised primarily in line with the emerging Active Travel Delivery Plan.

Public consultation on the draft Plan closed on 28 February 2025 and my officials are now considering the responses received with a view to presenting a final plan to me for consideration shortly. I hope to be in a position to publish the final plan by the end of the year.

The plan will include network maps for our larger towns and cities, including Antrim, Ballyclare, Crumlin, Newtownabbey and Randalstown in the South Antrim constituency.

When complete, the Active Travel Delivery Plan will complement the Belfast Cycling Network Delivery Plan and the Strategic Plan for Greenways to provide a firm basis for prioritising delivery of improved active travel infrastructure for the next ten years and beyond.

In addition to this, schemes to provide shared footway and cycleways between Crumlin and Glenavy, along Stiles Way from Avondale to Junction One, and Steeple Road from the train station to Steeple Park, Antrim are currently in design. A scheme to improve pedestrian and cycling facilities along a narrow section of Hydepark Road, Mallusk is also being progressed. Footways at Staffordstown Road, Creggan and Templepatrick Road, Ballyclare are also at design stage.