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 very little in the way of cycle provision to compensate from the rise in traffic on connecting roads!!) 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

Pedal on Parliament happens this Sunday in Edinburgh. Riders from all around Scotland will converge on The Meadows in Edinburgh at 3pm on Sunday 19 May 2013, before setting off for the short ride through the city centre to the Scottish Parliament. This year's ride will be a "closed roads" event. There are now several feeder rides from Glasgow to join the event. See Pedal on Parliament for full details.

Glasgow City Council has proposed to make the southern half of Candleriggs in the Merchant City into a pedestrian precinct, with vehicles only allowed in between the hours of 9 and 11am for the purposes of loading. Therefore cyclists will effectively be banned from using this route as a through route. This road links with the King Street contraflow cycle lanes and allows cyclists to bypass the busier parallel Glassford Street and High Street corridors, so is an important route for cyclists.

The order is the City Centre (traffic management) (amendment no.7 hm) and is illustrated in this plan. Should this order go ahead without amendment, it will restrict cycle access within the Merchant City and make the available road network more hostile for cyclists. The order could easily be amended to permit cycling on this section of Candleriggs, preferrably two-way, but this will only happen if enough people ask for it by sending a letter of objection to the council.

Any person wishing to object to the proposed Order should send details of the grounds for objection in writing to Group Manager, Traffic and Road Safety, Land and Environmental Services, 231 George Street, Glasgow G1 1RX, or by email to land@glasgow.gov.uk, by Friday 10 May 2013. Objections should state the name and address of the objector, the matters to which they relate and the grounds on which they are made.

Transport Scotland has announce various additional facilities to be provided at railway stations across Scotland. In addition to car park extensions and information screens, cycle shelters are to be provided at various stations. Within Strathclyde these are Lanark, Shotts, Balloch, Bishopton, Paisley Canal, Whitecraigs, Bishopbriggs, Lenzie, Carluke, Dalmuir and Bellshill. Unspecified enhanced cycling facilities will also be provided on the East Kilbride route.

7 Work has been carried out to the Loch Lomond cycle path in Scotstoun, as part of the programme to upgrade cycle facilities to Commonwealth Games venues. LED catseyes have been installed on the path between Smith Street in Whiteinch and Primrose Street in Scotstoun. This is the first instance of the use of LED catseyes on cycle paths in Glasgow, although they have been in use on the Union Canal towpath in Edinburgh for a while. However path surface defects on the ageing Loch Lomond path remain untouched. These include tree-root damage, cracking and even bonfire damage.

A newly widened shared-use footway has been provided along Primrose Street, connecting the Loch Lomond Path to a toucan crossing across Dumbarton Road. This links to an underpass under the Clydeside Expressway, from where the Jordanhill Nature Trail railway path continues to the Scotstoun Showground sports centre. The path leading to the underpass has been widened and lit, and the area around either end of the underpass generally tidied up.

Although the catseyes on NCN 7 were installed as part of the upgrade of the route to the Scotstoun Sports Centre, none have been installed on the unlit section of path on the Jordanhill Nature Trail. This will need to be addressed if the route is to be promoted as a means of getting to evening events at the Commonwealth Games and beyond. Nevertheless, the path is popular with dog-walkers, even after dark!

A public bicycle work stand has been provided outside the Whole Foods Market store in Giffnock, on Fenwick Road near the junction of Burnfield Road. This is on the main road between Newton Mearns and Glasgow, and is a very visible and practical promotion of cycling. Although many cyclists will carry a pump and tools everywhere they go, not all do, and now there is no need to worry if your bike breaks down in Giffnock.

Pedal on Parliament are looking for volunteers to help organise this year's Pedal on Parliament in Edinburgh. Riders from all around Scotland will converge on The Meadows in Edinburgh at 3pm on Sunday 19 May 2013, before setting off for the short ride through the city centre to the Scottish Parliament. You can help by offering to become a marshall, giving out leaflets, or putting up posters. There are supplies of leaflets to pick up in the Siempre Café-Bar on Dumbarton Road at Partick Cross. See Pedal on Parliament for ways to help.

A feeder ride to the event from Glasgow is likely to be announced shortly.

Work is progressing at Hyndford on the Lanark to Hyndford Bridge and Biggar cycle route. South Lanarkshire Council programmed some work on the cycle track along Hyndford Road into its April roadworks programme.

The Spring 2013 Go Bike Newsletter is now on the newsletters page.

754 Resurfacing work continues on NCN 754 Forth & Clyde Canal towpath during March, this time between Lambhill Bridge and Bishopbriggs. Drainage and surfacing work has now been undertaken in the Possil Marsh area, a stretch of the canal path known for sogginess and flooding. Hopefully this work will continue once the weather improves.

CWG Work is about to commence this Spring on another phase of the Commonwealth Games Glasgow to Cathkin Braes Cycle Route. The sections of route either side of Carmunnock Village, and on Carmunnock Road in Castlemilk, are already in place, and this latest phase will see the route extended through King's Park and down to the Hampden Park Park & Ride site. A new entrance to King's Park is to be formed on Croftpark Avenue, opposite Thorncroft Drive. The route will take in King's Park railway station.

Further phases of the route will see it extended to the City Centre, probably via Glasgow Green, and to the Commonwealth Games venues in Dalmarnock and Parkhead.

7 75 We have been notified that Bells' Bridge, across the River Clyde next to the SECC, will be refurbished. Work will commence on 19 March 2013, with the bridge expected to be closed to pedestrians and cyclists for approximately 22 weeks. A diversion will be signed via the adjacent Millenium Footbridge, next to the Science Centre.

Pedal on Parliament has announced a revised date for this year's Pedal on Parliament in Edinburgh. Riders from all around Scotland will converge on The Meadows in Edinburgh at 3pm on Sunday 19 May 2013, before setting off for the short ride through the city centre to the Scottish Parliament. This year's ride will be a "closed roads" event.

(754) The footbridge over the River Kelvin, on the path between Cadder (Bishopbriggs/Forth & Clyde Canal) and Balmore, has now been replaced by East Dunbartonshire Council. The old bridge was closed over a year ago due to its decrepit state and its replacement is a sturdy £180,000 DDA-compliant bridge with step-free access at both ends. The path in the immediate vicinity of the bridge has been upgraded, but the rest of the path between Cadder and Balmore remains as narrow and as bumpy as ever! A further closure is anticipated by East Dunbartonshire Council to complete surfacing works.

756 Work is almost complete on Glasgow City Council's upgrade of the Kelvin Walkway/Cycleway between Kelvingrove Park and Kelvinbridge, at the Eldon Street Bridge underpass. The existing path has been widened with the timber section replaced entirely. The plans are contained in this description and photomap, and the almost-finished result can be seen on Cyclestreets.

There are still works outstanding and these relate to the Eldon Street bridge, including guniting and painting of the soffit of the bridge deck, installation of lighting units, and application of anti-graffiti coating. Unfortunately, the guniting and painting work are temperature dependent and the recent spell of cold weather has not permitted these works to happen as programmed. The Contractor will endeavour to finish these works as soon as possible. There is, however, approximately 4 to 5 weeks of work remaining.

The Contractor has been instructed that he is not allowed to work under the bridge during the Easter holiday fortnight and the walkway will be opened to the public during this time. Thereafter, it will be closed again to enable the outstanding works to be completed.

75 The NCN 75 Clyde Walkway cycle path has closed at Anderston Quay due to subsidence, deep fissures in the quay wall, and a collapse. The path will remain closed for some time until rebuilding work has taken place. See also BBC News. A diversion route has been signed by Glasgow City Council.

Members are encouraged to post photos of good and bad cycle facilities, or where facilities are lacking, to the Cyclestreets photomap. Cyclestreets is a popular cycle journey planner website originating from the Cambridge Cycling Campaign. The site uses the cycle layer of OpenStreetMap for its mapping, and incorporates a photomap showing users' photos. Not only can these photos be of assistance to people planning routes, but some councils are known to monitor the site to see what problems need fixed.

75 Enhancement work will begin on 4 February 2013 to Custom House Quay, in Glasgow City Centre. The objectives of this scheme are to promote or encourage sustainable transport along identified routes between the various Commowealth Games Venues and to present a good image of Glasgow to visitors during the Commowealth Games 2014. The works will mainly be on Custom House Quay and the south footway of Clyde Street between Stockwell Street and the Saltmarket. They will include the following:

The re-surfacing of the raised podium connecting the South Portland Street Pedestrian Bridge with Clyde Street. Drainage measures to alleviate the ponding which, at present, occurs in this area during wet weather are included;
The replacement of precast concrete paving slabs in the areas adjacent to Dixon Street and St Andrews Cathedral with slabs to match the public realm works carried out on Dixon Street;
Replacement of defective steps adjacent to the Dolores Ibarruri La Pasionaria Statue with material re-claimed from elsewhere on the Contract;
The lowering of certain masonary walls to improve visibility between Clyde Street and the River Walkway;
Repairs to other masonry walls and precast concrete slabs on the River Walkway;
The construction of a disability compliant link between the existing controlled pedestrian crossing on Dunlop Street with the River Walkway;
Improved pedestrian/cyclist links between the Stockwell Street/Clyde Street Junction and the River Walkway;
The conversion of selected existing hard standing areas adjacent to Carrick Quay to areas of grass;
Localised tree or shrub planting and/or tree surgery to existing trees to maintain an open visibility aspect.

A contract has been awarded to Land Engineering (Scotland) Ltd of Fenwick, Ayrshire to carry out the works on site. It is anticipated that work will commence in this area week commencing 4 February 2013 with completion within 18 weeks. Every attempt will be made to keep inconvenience to a minimum.

75 Work will begin this year on the Cuningar Loop Bridge, across the River Clyde at Dalmarnock. This will link the Commonwealth Games Athletes Village site to the Cuningar Loop which is being developed into a National Arboretum by the Forestry Commission. While construction will take 6 months to complete, the NCN 75 Clyde Walkway will only require to be closed for short periods of time, since most of the construction work will take place on the opposite bank.

75 78 The Scottish Government has announced £3.9million of funding to enhance cycling infrastructure over the next two years. The bulk of the money has been allocated to the Great Glen Cycle Route between Oban and Inverness, which will create a new highly scenic cycle route in an area already very popular with tourists but without dedicated cycle infrastructure, further boosting tourism, while £500,000 will go to improving access to stations on the Airdrie to Bathgate railway. £400,000 will be spent on cycle parking at schools and linking to the Community Links programme delivering safe routes to schools throughout Scotland.

(756) Construction work on the Connect2 project at Anderston will not now be completed until the end of June 2013. Site problems have delayed work. The bridge over the M8 motorway, to be called the Anderston Bridge, will have a direct connection to the existing footbridge over the A814 Clydeside Expressway, which will become known as the Stobcross Bridge.

Work is nearing completion on the segregated cycle route along Waterloo Street, which will connect the Anderston Bridge, and route from Kelvingrove Park, to Central Station.

75 The NCN 75 Clyde Walkway cycle path will be closed again at Dalmarnock for construction of the new Smartbridge. There will be a 3 day closure between 19 and 21 December 2012 for tree-felling, followed by a longer closure starting in March 2013 for construction. The new bridge will be located between the ends of Carstairs Street and Clydeside Road, and the closure and signed diversion will be between Rutherglen Bridge and Swanston Street.

The Advance Stop Line in Union Street, in Glasgow City Centre, has now been fully reinstated.

The Scotrail website now allows passengers to reserve a bicycle space on trains in addition to buying tickets and reserving seats. This facility has already been available on the East Coast Trains website. The Scotrail website also allows passengers to book PlusBus tickets for either end of their journey, where available.

74 A new section of NCN Route 74 has opened between Chatelherault Country Park and Larkhall. This section consists of a shared use footway alongside the main road, plus a short link to Merryton Station. The route has been temporarily routed via the eastern footway at Allanton, but will be relocated on the western footway once the adjacent site has been redeveloped. NCN 74 is now open between Uddingston and Larkhall, and between Douglas and Gretna.

Sustrans is currently contributing to a number of projects across Scotland. Here are the projects that fall within the Strathclyde area:

Argyll & Bute:

Oban Hospital Right of Way - completion
Kilmore - Barran footway
South Shian Link phase 1
Jubilee Bridge paths, Appin
Dunollie - Ganavan Phase 1
Crinan Canal towpath improvements

East Ayrshire:

Stewarton Cycle Route

East Dunbartonshire:

NCN Route 754 - Forth & Clyde Canal Towpath Upgrade: Kirkintilloch to Glasgow Bridge.

East Renfrewshire:

Making Connections with Thornliebank to Giffnock Cycle Route
Levern Valley Way

Glasgow City:

Tradeston Feasibility Study
Southern General Hospital Links Feasibility Study
River Clyde South Bank Feasibilty Study
North East Glasgow Corridor
NCN Route 7 to Scotstoun Sports Campus
Great Western Road Links
City Centre to Cathkin Braes Country Park Cycle Route (Phase 2 Castlemilk to Toryglen)

North Ayrshire:

Brodick sea front
NCN Route 75 Largs Link All Abilities Upgrade
NCN Route 75 Fairlie Link Path Phase One (Design)
Irvine Cycle Friendly Town Study
NCN Route 73 Springside to Dreghorn All Abilities Access Improvements
NCN Route 73 Brodick to Corrie Phase Three

North Lanarkshire:

NCN Route 75 - Drumgelloch to the east side of Plains
Calderbank to Eurocentral Cyclepath Link
Monkland Canal Corridor Improvements

Renfrewshire:

Barrhead to Paisley Cycle Link (South Paisley Strategic Link)
Brookfield Cycleway Link

South Ayrshire:

Marr College Upgrade
Loans to Troon - Links Design
Carrick Glen Hospital Link - Design
Shawfarm Road, Prestwick - Construction
Alloway/Burton extension - feasibility/design

South Lanarkshire:

Upgrading of NCN Route 75 at Uddingston Grammar School - Phase 2
NCN Route 74 - Raploch Pitches, Larkhall
Hamilton To Rutherglen Cycle Route - Phase 2
Lanark to Biggar Cycle Route - Phase 3

West Dunbartonshire:

Dumbarton Central Link to Jamestown and NCN
Clydebank North Circular Link to NCN

75 The NCN 75 Clyde to Forth cycle route has been rerouted in Coatbridge and now follows the Monkland Canal between Lock Street and Drumpellier Lawns Estate. The route then runs alongside the A752 at Bargeddie, to rejoin the previous route at the Showcase Cinema. This deviation avoids the poor quality route through western Coatbridge, where cyclists often complained of getting lost due to poor signage and complicated routing, and the Luggie Glen path which suffered from subsidence.

(75) The footbridge over the North Calder Water, at the end of the Monkland Canal at Calderbank, has been replaced by a brand new bridge. The bridge replaces an old timber bridge that was closed after being damaged by fire some years ago. The bridge provides a connection to woodlands on the south bank of the river, and at the top of the steps at the other side of the bridge a track leads through the woods to the A8 bridge at Eurocentral.

Glasgow City Council is to start bus lane enforcement on 23 April. At present this is the police's responsibility. It remains to be seen whether the bus lane enforcement will be any more effective than the parking enforcement Glasgow City Council is already responsible for.

Following a request from Go Bike, a dropped kerb has been installed at the end of Gadie Street in Riddrie, at the Provan Road crossing to Alexandra Park. Another has recently appeared at the junction of St George's Road and New City Road in Woodside.

The Glasgow Bike Station has moved to new premises in Haugh Street in the West End. The move sees the bicycle recycling and reconditioning outfit relocate to premises near to the University of Glasgow and student residences. From 31 March the address will be 65 Haugh Road, Glasgow, G3 8TX.

The Bike Station has won the First Prize at Scottish Green List National Awards and another two prizes for Best Sustainable Transport Project in Glasgow and Outstanding Green Project in Glasgow. The project has also been granted £446,000 by the Climate Challenge Fund for its 'A Better Way To Work' project.

(75) Thanks to campaigning by Go Bike members, the detectors on the traffic signals on the railway bridge on Cardonald Road Place in South Cardonald will be replaced with ones that detect cyclists.

John Lauder of Sustrans has been out and about across Scotland recently, looking at developments in the National Cycle Network such as in Argyll, Clackmannanshire and the Great Glen. See his Twitter for further details, including photos.

The Cycling Embassy of Great Britain paid a visit Glasgow and Milngavie on 18 February. An infrastructure safari study tour took place to look at examples of cycle infrastructure, including the Milngavie Road cycle lanes. For a report see Cycling Embassy of Great Britain.

See Spokes for a report on the demonstration in Edinburgh on 11th January 2012, to protest at the Scottish government's broken manifesto promises over funding for sustainable transport outside St Andrews House.

Sunday 20 November was the date of the Glasgow Cycling Forum's Glasgow Cycling Infrastructure Tour, organised jointly with Go Bike. This had been organised as a study tour for councillors and roads designers from Glasgow City Council to sample the cycle facilities they have provided and see how well they are performing. The tour consisted of a 22 mile circular tour around the city, by bike, taking in a wide variety of cycling infrastructure. In total, 20 riders took part in the ride which took in routes in the East End, South Side and West End. Details of the route are on the Glasgow Cycling Infrastructure Tour page.

Glasgow City Council has advised that anyone wanting to suggest small projects for improving cycling, such as new dropped kerbs or signage, should send them in. Email les@glasgow.gov.uk and mark the subject "Cycling Improvements". Faults should continue to be reported to RALF. Let us know how you get on!

75 Sustrans advises us that Airdrie to Bathgate section of NCN 75 has not yet reopened between Plains and Drumgelloch due to a problem with ground conditions and landowner issues. Network Rail and North Lanarkshire Council are currently working on designs for a replacement path adjacent to the main A89 between Towers Road and Plains, including a controlled crossing near Towers Road. It is hoped to complete this towards the end of 2011. Network Rail is also still completing works on the other sections of the route, including erecting signage, millennium mileposts and artworks removed from the original route.

75 Sustrans advises us that Gardenside Street in Uddingston, severed by the construction of a new access road at the point where there used to be bollards across the road that let cyclists through, will remain like it is at present for another 3 months. Once works are complete, a short section of shared use footway is to be provided to connect the two parts of Gardenside Street. At present there are apparently temporary ramps somewhere to allow cyclists across the new strip of footway obstructing National Cycle Network Route 75.

755 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.

Sustrans has decided to number the Strathkelvin path as National Cycle Network Route 755. Signs will be erected on the existing path shortly.

SCSP Work has commenced on Glasgow City Council's segregated cycle route between Parnie Street and Glasgow Green in the St Andrew's Square area of Glasgow. This will involve new Toucan Crossings across Saltmarket, Charlotte Street and Greendyke Street, and cycle track on St Andrew's Street, James Morrison Street and London Road. There is now one-way operation for other traffic on St Andrew's Street, Turnbull Street and James Morrison Street. Only work on London Road remains to be completed. For full details see the advert and map.

SCSP Work is still ongoing on Glasgow City Council's Glasgow Green to Parkhead Forge cycle route, part of the Smarter Choices Smarter Places campaign. The route features infrastructure enhancements on Morris Path, London Road (new Toucan Crossing), Claythorn Park, Stevenson Street (raised junctions), Crownpoint Road (improved lighting), Fielden Street (crossing upgrade) and Camlachie Street. The route ends with a shared-use section of footway along Gallowgate, rather than perhaps heading for the western Forge Shopping Centre car park where there are cycle stands. Instead the route will end here. The route will link with the route from the Merchant City at Parnie Street (see above).

(75) Path links to NCN 75 Clyde Walkway are being provided at the Clyde Gateway East Business Park, which when completed will provide a much-needed link between NCN 75 and the East End of Glasgow at Braidfauld Street. Braidfauld Street leads to Wellshot Road, next to Tollcross Park, and travelling further north cyclists can continue up Carntynehall Road to reach Hogganfield Loch. At present the only access to NCN 75 in the Dalbeth area is through the St Peters Cemetery.

(7) A new ferry service has been established between Govan and Yorkhill, in connection with the opening of the new Riverside Museum. The service runs between Water Row in Govan and Kelvin Harbour at Yorkhill Quay, alongside the Riverside Museum, and bikes are conveyed subject to space. See Clyde Clippers for more details.

Glasgow City Council is proposing to create various bits of segregated cycle route in the Parkhead area of Glasgow. New partly segregated contraflow cycle lanes will be provided in Sorby Street and Crail Street, which will both become one-way throughout, and a two-way cycle track will provided in Ogilvie Street. It is not clear how cyclists are to get between any of these, other than cycling on the busy Tollcross Road. No redetermination of footways is shown in the plans. Furthermore, Quarrybrae Street (west end) and Drumover Drive (south end) are to be stopped up without any exemption for cycles. Beattock Street remains stopped up at Sorby Street. Statutory consultation for the Glasgow City Council (Parkhead Area) (Traffic Management) Order has now ended.

(756) In addition to the new bridge that has been installed across the Polmadie Burn in Richmond Park, a new riverside path has been built westwards from Polmadie Bridge to Waterside Street. The new path allows continuous riverside access on the south side of the River Clyde between Waterside Street and Rutherglen Bridge.

SCSP Glasgow City Council has started work on the "Copenhagen style" cycle track on James Street and London Road in Bridgeton. When complete this segregated cycle track will link from Glasgow Green to the Commonwealth Games site at Parkhead as part of the Smarter Choices Smarter Places project. At present, it extends as far as the London Road Police Station.

Glasgow City Council is proposing altering the traffic system in the area around George Square. Bus gates will be implemented at Nelson Mandela Place and North Hanover Street, while George Square East is to be shut to all vehicles. Statutory Consultation - allowing the public to submit objections - starts shortly. See Traffic Management Proposals for George Square for details.

C Go Bike has received quite a lot of adverse comments regarding the Colleges Cycle Route upgrade to Hyndland Road, Highburgh Road and University Avenue in the West End. Additional car parking has been introduced on Highburgh Road with the cycle lanes crammed in to the door zone. Cycle lane widths on University Avenue have been reduced, from the recommended minimum 1.5 metres to around 1 metre. Go Bike will be working through the Glasgow Cycling Forum to get these changes reversed or amended. Please send us any comments on these plans so we can forward them on to the powers that be.

In the meantime, members who wish to avoid Highburgh Road could consider using Prince Albert Road (from Hyndland Road at Clarence Drive) and heading down Victoria Crescent Road to Byres Road. In the reverse direction use Dowanside Road and Crown Road North.

In Edinburgh, The Bike Station has launched the Innertube Map showing the city's off-road motor-traffic-free cycle paths. In addition to showing paths and access points, the map is backed up with 10 "champions" who ride the routes and report faults. Volunteers will be doing basic maintenance such as vegetation control, and plans are afoot to replace steps at access points with ramps.

SPT is pushing the back-pedalling option: In December 2010 Strathclyde Passenger Transport gave its cycle locker users notice that the cycle locker hire scheme would be terminated at the end of January 2011, due to the cost of operating the scheme and vandalism. All SPT hired lockers at stations across Strathclyde will be removed. SPT suggests that users transfer to using the open cycle stands at stations, even though these are unguarded and bikes will be vulnerable to the same vandalism as the lockers, except that it will be the bikes' owners problem instead of SPT's. Even lockers at stations that have not suffered from vandalism will be removed. This (presumably) does not affect other station locker schemes such as the free South Lanarkshire Council lockers at various stations across South Lanarkshire.

(C) Members in Knightswood are asked to write to their councillors to request that the cycle lanes in Alderman Road and Southbrae Drive are reinstated. The cycle lanes are now several years old and the markings are worn out. In Southbrae Drive, markings have not been reinstated after resurfacing. See Cyclestreets for photos.

Go Bike is working to get Advance Stop Lines in Glasgow reinstated. A number of ASLs have disappeared or have bits missing due to patching and resurfacing, or even just wear and tear. While maintenance crews are meant to note the existing markings and reinstate them on completion of work, this hasn't always happened and we are finding missing ASLs all over the city. There are also numerous ASLs around Glasgow where the original installation work was never properly completed.

If you know of ASLs where work is required to complete or reinstate them, including green surfacing and the cycle symbol, please get in touch.

(754) A new cycle path will be installed near Allandale linking the B816 to the Forth & Clyde Canal at Cumbernauld Road. Previously access to the canal was gained halfway along a sliproad to the A80, but since this will become a motorway sliproad, a new access path will be provided linking right onto the B816. This will be of use to cyclists coming from Abronhill and Cumbernauld along Walton Road. Google Streetview.

(C) 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.

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...

(75) 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.

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.

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.

(74) Transport Scotland is promoting a major rebuilding of the M74/A725 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 a cycle link from Bothwell to Strathclyde Park through the junction. However, it appears that this 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 route 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. Sustrans has now decided to reroute NCN 74 away from the Raith Interchange, and instead take it via Blantyre.

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.