Women cyclists audited 48km of Stevenage's cycleways after dark. Only 20% of the distance raised no safety concern, and over 40% raised serious ones.

Only a fifth of Stevenage’s main cycleway network felt completely safe to ride after dark, according to an audit by women cyclists published this month. The rest raised at least some concern, and more than 40% of the distance raised serious concerns.

The audit was carried out by women from Cycling UK Stevenage Campaigns, the local campaign group of the national cycling charity. They rode 48km (30 miles) of cycleways and shared paths after dark between mid-September and mid-October. Their report, Cycling After Dark in Stevenage, came out just before the group’s Glow Ride through the town on Thursday 22 October.

What the audit found

The key findings, in the group’s words and figures:

  • at least some concern about social safety on 80% of the distance surveyed
  • only 20% of the network “felt completely safe”
  • serious concerns on over 40% of the distance
  • serious concerns on 90% of the routes surveyed through parks and on shared paths away from roads

The volunteers split the network into 108 sections. Each was rated red, amber or green on three tests: whether anyone could see the path, whether a rider could see ahead and get away, and whether lighting let them see other people. A section took its worst rating, the group’s methodology paper explains. The tests were adapted from ones the London Cycling Campaign’s Women’s Network used for its own after-dark audit of London in 2025.

Three problems the report names

1. The cycleways have no lights of their own. Most of the network relies on LED streetlights over the road next to it. Lights on the road edge face away from the cycleway, and lights on the central reservation are further away. Where the cycleway rises or drops away from the road, it falls into shadow. Trees and overgrowth block more light.

2. Bright underpasses, dark exits. Many underpasses now have very bright lighting, but the path just outside is barely lit. Riders leaving one are “effectively plunged into darkness” as their eyes adjust, the report says, and the shadows make it hard to see if anyone is there. It gives Fairlands Way at Popple Way, Lytton Way at Briggs Close and Grace Way near Sish Lane as examples.

3. Parks, old lanes and woods. Many links between neighbourhoods run across parks such as Fairlands Valley Park, or along lanes older than the New Town, such as Symonds Green Lane and Shephall Lane. The report calls these “a joy to use in daylight” but says they do not feel safe after dark. Avoiding them means long detours or busy roads.

One rider quoted in the report describes Fairlands Way, the main route up to Chells Manor:

“There are many places where the cycle paths are relying on road streetlights to light them. Light is blocked by trees and there are pitch black parts.”

Another said she got off a late train at Knebworth, rather than Stevenage, to avoid the underpasses on her way home.

The newest routes did better. The report says the cycleway on North Road and the shared path on Gresley Way meet “more modern expectations” and feel safer.

What the group wants

The report asks for changes to the older cycleways where:

  • lighting could be added or adjusted
  • vegetation needs cutting back
  • safe on-road routes are needed as alternatives to secluded ones

The group says the network was “a unique innovation” when the New Town was built nearly 80 years ago, but now has to work “after dark and in winter too”. Its Glow Ride route on 22 October was about a quarter entirely unlit, including a one-mile stretch in the park, according to the event page.

Neither Stevenage Borough Council nor Hertfordshire County Council, the highway authority, had published a response to the report when we checked on 27 October.

What it means for you

  • The clocks went back on Sunday 25 October, so the evening ride home is now in the dark for most commuters.
  • You can raise it with the county now. Hertfordshire County Council is consulting on its new Local Transport Plan, which covers walking and cycling up to 2050. The consultation closes at 11.45pm on Monday 9 November, Stevenage Borough Council says.
  • The group’s interactive map of every section and its rating is linked from its audit page. The contact is CyclingUKStevenageCampaigns@gmail.com.
  • Overgrown paths and broken lights can be reported to the county council’s highways service. Our roadworks and travel page lists what is closed on the network this fortnight.

Sources