Tees Valley’s five bike hubs to stay open until July 31

Confirmation has come from the Tees Valley Combined Authority (TVCA) that the five hubs across the region will remain open throughout the next three months, while procurement for the longer-term running of the hubs is “ongoing”.

The active travel hubs, located in Stockton, Hartlepool, Redcar and Darlington were all set to close temporarily at the end of March, while Middlesbrough’s hub was due to be axed for good.

Members of TVCA’s cabinet were blindsided by the cycling hub developments, but were pleased that a U-turn was undertaken before the end of March, meaning that all hubs would stay open in the upcoming months.

This immediate timeline has now been clarified, and while the future beyond July 31 is still not certain, a TVCA spokesperson said that the procurement process is ongoing and next steps will be confirmed once it has “progressed further”.

When the initial closures were announced, a TVCA spokesperson said they were “fully committed” to improving active travel options across the region. It was confirmed at March’s TVCA cabinet meeting that the combined authority’s active travel capability rating had been “downgraded” in the latest assessment, in response to a question about why there had been a reduction in funding.

Jonathan Spruce, director of infrastructure at the combined authority, explained to TVCA Cabinet on Friday, March 20 that approving the submission of the “local transport delivery plan” would allow TVCA to start using active travel funding to “enable the continuation” of hubs while looking at a longer term, “sustainable” arrangement. 

TVCA chief executive Tom Bryant apologised at the same meeting that active travel hub proposals hadn’t been brought to cabinet earlier, adding: “This short term intervention now buys us the time so that the hubs can stay in place while we work up with Cabinet what the future looks like.”

Mr Spruce spoke of the possibility of relocating some of the hubs if it were found to be beneficial.