Go Bike! Strathclyde Cycle Campaign

Why Go Bike?

Welcome to the Go Bike website! The campaign exists to promote cycling in the Strathclyde area of Scotland, and is active mainly within Glasgow, East Dunbartonshire, and East Renfrewshire.

With the recent gales and floods in England, on top of the floods a few years ago in Scotland, when Paisley, Perth and Inverness were hit, global warming seems to be making its impact.

To help counteract this environmental threat, together with that from pollution from the all-pervasive motor vehicle, (for instance, the seven mile M74 extension, which is costed at £500 million, and includes a measly two miles of cycle track!!) we would like you to join Go Bike, subscribe to the Go Bike News email list (see forum page for explanation) and help us take personal responsibility for effecting a modal shift away from the motor car, and towards cycling, walking and public transport. (See Glasgow City Council's current road proposals, including the M74 extension, East End Rat Run, Yoker Relief Road, Easterhouse Uplink, Northern Ring Road, Gartloch Getaway and Daldowie Diversion.)

Events

Go Bike holds meetings throughout the year to discuss cycling issues. See meetings for details. Anyone interested in improving cycling in the Glasgow area is welcome to attend.

Learn about our easy-paced cycle rides held each month, and what our campaign has achieved so far, by reading the on-line version of our newsletters. There are also links to other cycling organisations.

Glasgow Cycle Map

Go Bike, in association with Spokes Maps, has produced the all new Glasgow Cycle Map, launched in September 2007 as part of European Mobility Week.

The map is available in bike shops and book shops.

You may order by post by sending a cheque for £4.95 made payable to 'SPOKES' to:

Spokes Maps
St Martin's Church
232 Dalry Road
Edinburgh
EH11 2JG

Subscriptions

Have you renewed your Go Bike Membership for this year? See Subscription Notice. Funds from subscriptions go towards paying for things like room hire for meetings, website hosting, newsletter printing, and stationery.

News

See Cyclenation for National and International News, including Transport Policy, Law and Strategic Developments.

For Scottish news from Sustrans see Sustrans Scotland News, including Scottish Route Developments and Route Closures and Diversions.

Local News & Consultations

A world record attempt is to take place in Coalburn, South Lanarkshire, aiming to generate a record breaking amount of electricity from bicycles over a 24 hour period! The current record currently stands at 12,953 watts and at least 1,000 participants are needed to stand a chance of breaking the record. The attempt beings at 5pm on Friday 27 August and lasts until 5pm on Saturday 28 August at Coalburn One Stop Shop.

The effort is part of a Sustainable Saturday family day where there is something for everyone and non-participants can lend their support or enjoy other activities such as a soft play area, healthy cooking demonstrations, interactive renewable demonstrations, face painting and bouncy castles. For further details and to sign up as a participant see Powering To The Future. For getting to Coalburn see Google Journey Planner.

A new ramp has been built connecting the Forth & Clyde Canal Glasgow Branch at Speirs Wharf to the Garscube Landscape Link at Cowcaddens, meaning cyclists can now cycle down from the canal to the cycle routes on the edge of the city centre.

Previously cyclists had the choice of dismounting and walking down a large flight of steps, cycling down a grass slope, or joining Craighall Road and cycling through the busy motorway junction. Now the ramp properly connects these important elements in the Glasgow Cycle Network. The ramp compliments the recent work on the Dobbie's Loan underpass forming the Garscube Landscape Link, and was done in a fraction of the time!

Cyclists can now cycle directly from the canal towpath to Woodside via the Garscube Road footbridge and path to Braid Square, to the Colleges Cycle Route (Strathclyde University to Jordanhill) via the path to Cowcaddens, and into Sauchiehall Street precinct via the Cambridge Street cycle lanes, all on signed cycle routes.

The West Street cycle track, outside West Street Underground Station, will now retain access to West Street and Scotland Street in both directions. The banana-shaped traffic island proposed for the main road on the corner, as part of the M74 work, will now have a gap permitting cycle right turns to take place.

The cycle track was originally introduced after Go Bike objected to the stopping up of West Street in the 1990s. At one point the cycle track even boasted palm trees on either side!

The Bridgeton Cross Bus Gate now permits cycling! After many requests from Go Bike, the signage to allow cyclists to use the link between London Road and Dalmarnock Road is now in place. Previously the signs said "No Entry except buses". However, the cycle directional signage at Bridgeton Cross towards Glasgow Green has disappeared.

The Smarter Choices Smarter Places project plans to create a cycle route between Glasgow Green and the Commonwealth Games site, which will come through Bridgeton Cross.

An old-style bus gate remains in Ashfield Street, Possilpark, although the "except buses" plates have gone missing and both ends of the road currently say just "No Entry"! Go Bike wants cycling legalised through this bus gate also.

Go Bike is investigating what has become of the popular Shakespeare Street cycle track in central Maryhill. At a time when Glasgow City Council is building what it is now calling "Copenhagen style" cycle tracks, this crucial section of segregated cycle track, which forms part of an important link between the Kelvin Cycleway and the Forth & Clyde Canal, has been fenced off and dug up. Go Bike fought hard to get this link as part of the Maryhill Road Route Action Plan in the 1990s, when the Council intended to make the road purely one way.

Glasgow Bike Shed, a new bicycle recycling project in Glasgow, has now opened its premises in London Road and has already been refurbishing old bikes. Donations of unwanted and broken bikes will be gratefully received. The organisation also has qualified instructors to do cycle training and cycle maintenance training. See Glasgow Bike Shed for details.

The Garscube Landscape Link has now reopened following a prolonged closure for extensive refurbishment. This is an important link between the Forth & Clyde Canal and Cowcaddens, under Dobbies Loan. The surface has been renewed and the surrounding area landscaped in day-glo colours.

NCN 75 will close again in the Dalmarnock area for more Commonwealth Games-related work. The Camlachie Burn will be diverted, with the path closing in mid-July for about 18 weeks. A diversion will be signed and further information will be posted here when it is received. Another closure is presently in place associated with resurfacing work.

Double decker cycle racks have been installed at Glasgow Central station. Three sets of racks have been installed on platform 15, with space for a total of 60 bikes. There has been a problem with a lack of capacity in the cycle parking provision at the station for some time, and now with the car park closed, this has been addressed with a large increase in capacity. Instructions are provided on site for use of the top deck.

The contraflow cycle lane on Netherlee Road, between Cathcart and Clarkston, that Go Bike members campaigned for, has now been completed by East Renfrewshire Council. Netherlee Road forms a pleasant quiet route parallel to Clarkston Road, but has been one-way northbound up until now.

London based cycle safety campaigner Ted Reilly has prepared a set of maps which shows the location of every crash that resulted in death of, or serious injury to a cyclist for the period 2000 to 2008. The map shows the location of the crash and some details of the crash. The mapping was first produced for London and the London Cycle Campaign use it in negotiations with local authorities.

You can access the map for Scotland via CityBeast.com.

Path closed The path connecting NCN 75 Clyde Walkway and Springfield Road (opposite Bogside Street) in Dalmarnock is presently closed for Commonwealth Games building work. The diversion route is via the Cairncraig Street path, London Road and Springfield Road, or via NCN 75 to Dalmarnock Bridge, Dalmarnock Road and Springfield Road. The path will reopen in August 2010.

Glasgow City Council has sent us plans for the latest phase of the Colleges Cycle Route upgrade to Highburgh Road and University Avenue. Car parking will be restricted to one side of the road at most places with cycle lanes both ways (Highburgh Road) and uphill only (University Avenue). Highburgh Road presently suffers from car parking in the existing kerbside cycle lanes. A sketch of a typical section of the proposed layout for Highburgh Road is shown below. Nibbing will be provided at junctions, bus stops and pedestrian crossings to prevent parking on these features. This layout will also apply to Hyndland Road between Highburgh Road and North Gardner Street. On University Avenue, the main change will be the replacement of the car parking on the uphill side coming from Kelvin Way with a cycle lane and the replacement of the cycle lane on the downhill side towards Kelvin Way with some car parking spaces. Consultation runs until 8 January 2010.
The typical planned layout of Highburgh Road
Please send us any comments on these plans so we can gauge support for them.

Members who use the Kilmarnock Road cycle lanes may like to comment on whether these arrangements would be more suitable that the current layout if installed there.

Glasgow City Council has advised that the Prince Edward Street cycle track at Victoria Road in Govanhill will not now be blocked by a relocated bus stop. The bus stop will be positioned so cycles still have access to the side road.

Go Bike members have been in contact with Glasgow City Council over restricted access from Kelvin Way to Kelvingrove Park, as a result of construction work. A better solution to the problem is expected to be implemented shortly.

Arran Bike Club has produced a cycle map of on and off-road routes around Arran. It can be downloaded from the Arran Bike Club website, along with route descriptions.

East Dunbartonshire Council is to refurbish the footbridge over the Forth & Clyde Canal at Westerton. The deck of the bridge will be made non-slip.

Sustrans has announced that the Strathkelvin Railway Path will become part of the National Cycle Network. The path between Kirkintilloch and Strathblane will be extended to include a section of the West Highland Way towards Drymen that runs along the same abandoned railway line, so that it will link between NCN 754 (Forth & Clyde Canal) and NCN 7 near Drymen.

Sustrans will also work with North Lanarkshire Council to include the route south of Kirkintilloch which currently links to Glenboig. A new path has already been built to Gartcosh and there are plans to continue the path to Drumpellier Country Park from where the Monkland Canal will link to NCN 75 in Coatbridge.

Go Bike had been promised by Glasgow City Council that cycle lanes removed upon resurfacing in Killermont Street and Royston Road would be reinstated within 28 days. Now more than a year later we are still waiting...

Rutherglen Railway Station has free-to-use bike lockers outside the main Victoria Street entrance. Unlike lockers elsewhere, these can be used without booking or payment, and all that is needed is an ordinary padlock. However, notices on the lockers advise that they must not be used for overnight storage, so can only be used for day trips. One of the lockers was in use when we inspected them, while reports of the previous booked locker service was that take-up was very low.

Further free lockers have been installed at Blantyre, Cambuslang, Chatelherault, Hamilton West, Kirkhill, Larkhall and Newton stations.

The new Tradeston-Broomielaw Foot/Cycle Bridge over the River Clyde in Glasgow opened on 14 May 2009, although the promised connecting cycle route from Eglinton Toll, via Salkeld Street and Tradeston Street (see below) has yet to be started. We've heard nothing about creating a route to the north, into the city centre. We suggest a contraflow cycle lane on Blythswood Street, between Cadogan Street and Holm Street, allowing cyclists to reach the bridge directly from the Bothwell Street area along reasonably pleasant streets. As a result of the riverside construction work, NCN 75 now runs on the north bank of the river. The route previously ran alongside the Broomielaw roadway.

Glasgow City Council has proposed building a City Centre to Govanhill Cycle Route southwards through Tradeston. This route would link the new bridge to the south side of Glasgow. Phase 1 consists of widened and segratated foot/cycleways on Centre Street and Cook Street, with cyclists continuing via Salkeld Street and Devon Place towards Eglinton Toll and Govanhill. Later work would see the route moved to Tradeston Street, once some M74 motorway-building work has been completed, and the route extended to Kinning Park and Pollokshields.

Work has now started on the new Kirkintilloch Link Road, between the town centre and the M80 motorway. This has resulted in the diversion of the Strathkelvin Railway Path south of Woodilee. A whindust path has been provided across the Bothlin Burn from the original path. This path does not join the tarmac path to the town centre directly opposite on Woodilee Road, so cyclists need to cycle on this busy road for a short distance before turning right just after a bend.

Connected to the story below, Glasgow City Council is making plans for Glasgow City Centre. Gordon Street is the centre of many of the changes, with pedestrianisation proposed for the section between Renfield Street and West Nile Street, and semi-pedestrianisation for the section immediately west of Renfield Street. Go Bike is concerned about the impact this will have on city centre cycling, since cycling is not allowed in most other pedestrian precincts in Glasgow. Also under threat are the Hope Street contraflow cycle lane between Gordon Street and Waterloo Street, and the Jamaica Street contraflow bus lane between Howard Street and Argyle Street. Further pedestrianisation is proposed for Queen Street north of Ingram Street, for the east side of George Square, and for Trongate west of Candleriggs. Read more on what is proposed in this presentation and the notes for councillors.

It has been reported in the papers that Glasgow City Council is looking at making West Nile Street in Glasgow City Centre into a cycle route, linking existing cycle routes on the north side of the city centre into provision around Central Station. This is a long-standing Go Bike request finally being taken seriously.

If you are interested in mountain biking, see Glasgow City Council's plans for mountain bike circuits in the Cathkin Braes Country Park.

The Airdrie to Bathgate cycle path closed in October 2008. The path has been closed for the building of the Airdrie to Bathgate rail link. A new cycle path will be built alongside the railway. See this leaflet about the closure of the Airdrie to Bathgate cycle path. The replacement cycle path is expected to be built during the summer of 2010, and opened along with the railway line in December.

Go Bike has asked for paths at Port Dundas to be upgraded, forming a link between the Forth & Clyde Canal at Speirs Wharf and the Sighthill Park path network. A shallow set of steps needs to be ramped out, along with improving surfaces on the canal quayside. This would fill a gap in the cycle network by-passing the north of the city centre, complementing improved links to either side.

Our friends at the Warrington Cycle Campaign have published a book called Crap Cycle Lanes, featuring a selection of poor quality cycle lanes from around the country. Buy it direct from Eye Books.

Transport Scotland is promoting a major rebuilding of the M74/A725/NCN 74 junction Raith Interchange between Bothwell and Strathclyde Park. This scheme involves putting the A725 in an underpass under the roundabout and providing two cycle routes through the junction. One route connects Bothwell Bridge with Bellshill, while the other is the long-awaited implementation of NCN 74 (the Uddingston to Gretna cycle route) through the junction. However, it appears that the NCN 74 route was an afterthought tacked on at the last minute. It has the following faults:

Indirect route taking many twists and turns
The indirectness of the route is compounded by a loop ramp and a double-back ramp at the two footbridges
Five Toucan Crossings in another loop to get from one side of a road to the other
Several right-angled corners
The "main" route through the junction as it is designed is the Bothwell Bridge to Bellshill route, not the Uddingston to Strathclyde Park NCN 74 which will easily be the more popular of the two

Many of these faults could be avoided by moving the position of one of the proposed footbridges to cross the roundabout slightly further round or taking a different route around the roundabout. Go Bike met Transport Scotland to discuss this further but without success.

Transport Scotland is also promoting a new motorway between Baillieston and Newhouse. This M8 project will add a six lane motorway alongside the existing A8 dual carriageway, making a 10 lane monster route feeding into Glasgow. This will cause increased traffic on Edinburgh Road, due to the inevitable increased congestion on the existing M8. This is acknowledged by Glasgow City Council's proposed Baillieston to Daldowie road link, which is planned to displace some of this increase in traffic onto the proposed M74 northern extension.

There is to be a cycle route between Baillieston and Eurocentral, but this will be indirect, utilising at times muddy woodland tracks not suitable for commuter cyclists (e.g. going to Strathclyde Business Park), and will not extend as far as Newhouse. It also crosses the busy A752 and A752/A8 sliproad on the flat at Kirkwood. Go Bike has already lodged an objection to this plan.

See the Weekly List of Planning Applications from Glasgow City Council. Check to see if any planning applications give you cause for concern. If so, and they relate to or impact on cycling, let us know.