The Yellow Pedalway runs from the Aviation Academy near the airport through the city to the University Technical College on Old Hall Road in the south. As with all the Pedalways route that pass through the city, it’s best to think of it as two routes.
Yellow Pedalway Northern Section
Ridden July 2021 traffic levels were very low due to the corona virus.
The yellow Pedalway’s northern half runs from the Aviation Academy near the airport into the city. It’s mostly on road through quiet streets on on traffic calmed roads with a 20 mph limit. There are some sections of off road, mostly shared use pavements and several toucan crossings of busy roads.
The biggest issue you’ll encounter is the lack of signage pointing out the route. The small stickers on lamp posts that mark the Pedalway routes have largely vanished if they were there to begin with.
The roundabout at Woodcock Road was rebuilt to allow cyclists ride around the edge, a sort of watered down “Dutch roundabout”. However doing so is slow and few cyclist use it, preferring to stay on the road.
So is it up to the job? Probably mostly, or it would be if the route was properly signed. There are some weak sections, especially the shared use pavements toward the city end. Traffic along some sections is a problem in normal times.
The Yellow Pedalway Southern Section
Ridden August 2021
Ridden August 2021, traffic levels were very low due to the corona virus.
The southern half of Norwich’s Yellow Pedalway runs from the A140 Ipswich Road, past the Norfolk University Technical College (UTC) into the city via Hall road and the Lakenham Way. Most of this route is off road on shared use pavements of varying quality. Apart from a few bad junctions and the fact it’s shared use the route that follows the Lakenham Way is really quite good, Lakenham Way in particular is a very enjoyable cycle route.
It starts where the route joins the A140. This is a fast and very dangerous road to cycle on, yet a short distance away is a major Tesco supermarket.
The section along Hall Road is pretty good, albeit shared use pavement. It’s wide and has a pretty good surface and pedestrian traffic along here is not great. It passes an industrial area and so provides a route to work for employees there. There are several side road junctions with substandard crossings. The Purple Pedalway crosses here.
It splits into two options as Sandy Lane, one using the full length of the Lakenham Way and the other using Hall Road, past the Hewitt Academy school.
The other branch follows Hall Road heads toward the Hall Road roundabout on the outer ring road. Crossing the outer ring road here is below standard, lacking any direction signage and having the minimum of crossing infrastructure. Extreme care is needed. On the city side of the outer ring road the shared use pavement is way below standard, cutting across bus stops and being little more than a narrow pavement you’re allowed to cycle on.
The two parts re-join where Hall Road crosses the Lakenham Way and we follow the old railway line into the city, emerging at Brazen Gate where we join the Orange Pedalway as far as All Saints Green
The final leg into the city is mostly OK, but does mix buses and bicycles which isn’t ideal, you do need to be brave – and to concentrate – as you ride through the busy bus station of Red Lion Street and Castle Meadow before cutting through the lanes onto St Andrews Hill.