Must be something they're putting in the water in Cumbria. They've just finished the Carlisle Southern Link Road a week or so back and at the same time they've built a shared cycle path running next to the whole 5 mile length of it, which then links up with a further 4 mile path round the rest of the town that already existed, so it's 9 miles total now.
The old road used to have bits and pieces of cycle path here and there, but it would appear and disappear, so you'd have to go back on busy roads for parts, plus you were expected to dismount at roundabouts and use pedestrian crossings to get across main roads. Now not only is the path continuous, but at most of the busier roundabouts, the path crosses on bridges so you don't have to get involved with traffic at all if you don't want to.
(Drone shot from YouTube taken on the day the road opened to show example of cycle path)
