A £600,000 scheme for a cycle track, pedestrian walkway and new zebra crossings on the outskirts of Norwich has been given the go-ahead.

Changes to Mayfly Way in Bowthorpe will be made by Norfolk County Council, using a slice of the £32m awarded to the authority through the government's Transforming Cities initiative.

The plans include turning an existing footpath in Mayfly Way, between Harpsfield and Dereham Road, into a two-way cycle track.

Eastern Daily Press: £600k will be spent on a new cycleway and footpath in Mayfly Way in Bowthorpe£600k will be spent on a new cycleway and footpath in Mayfly Way in Bowthorpe (Image: Google)

A new footpath, solely for pedestrians, would be created on an existing verge next to it, separated from the cycle path by a raised kerb.

Council bosses said that would create a 550-metre link to the Green Pedalway, the cycle route which connects Bowthorpe to Broadland Business Park.

Other plans include a parallel crossing - a zebra crossing with a parallel priority cycleway - near Barnard Road.

That would require double yellow lines to be painted on part of Barnard Road leading up to that crossing.

Another parallel crossing is proposed off Chapel Break Road.

The plans are intended to improve safety for those travelling through the area by bike or on foot.

In public consultation, 83pc of those who responded backed the changes.

And the go-ahead for the project was given at a meeting of the Transport for Norwich advisory committee on Thursday (January 26).

The committee is made up of councillors from Norfolk County Council, Norwich City Council, South Norfolk Council and Broadland District Council.

The committee unanimously agreed to recommend that Graham Plant, the committee chairman and the county council cabinet member for highways, infrastructure and transport, should approve the proposals.

Eastern Daily Press: Labour city councillor Mike StonardLabour city councillor Mike Stonard (Image: Archant)

Mike Stonard, Labour city councillor, said: "I really welcome these proposals. They are going to make massive improvements for cyclists. It's almost a no-brainer."

Council officers said the scheme's construction does depend on a strip of privately-owned land being bought by the authority, but that talks surrounding that were "progressing well".