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

A big thank you to everyone who came on Pedal on Parliament in Edinburgh on Saturday 28 April 2012. About 3000 riders cycled from The Meadows to the Scottish Parliament. See Pedal on Parliament for details and Pedal on Parliament Flickr Pool for photos. Please also sign the petition calling for better safety for cyclists.

(754) The footbridge over the River Kelvin, on the path between Cadder (Bishopbriggs/Forth & Clyde Canal) and Balmore, has been shut by East Dunbartonshire Council for safety reasons. The bridge is to be replaced by a DDA-compliant bridge some time in the 2012/13 financial year.

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.

Glasgow City Council has started publishing its proposed Traffic Regulation Orders online, although as of mid-March, not all proposed Traffic Regulation Orders currently out for consultation are shown.

(756) The contract to complete the Connect2 Anderston foot/cycle bridge has been awarded to Raynesway Construction. They are expected to make a start on site in April with a 9 month construction programme.

(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.

756 Work has now been carried out at Piccadilly Street in Anderston to implement a link between the Connect2 cycle route and NCN 75 Clyde Walkway. Dropped kerbs are now in place on the path between the Clydeside Expressway bridge and Anderston Quay.

This completes the northern extension of NCN 756 along the Connect2 route between Anderston and Kelvingrove Park, and the Kelvin Cycleway between Kelvingrove Park and the Kelvin Aquaduct. The East Kilbride to Glasgow route now continues through the city centre (sharing Route 75) and out via the West End to meet up with Route 754 (Forth & Clyde Canal). Therefore these existing cycle routes will benefit from the extra publicity that the National Cycle Network enjoys.

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.

756 Glasgow City Council has proposed an upgrade of the Kelvin Walkway/Cycleway between Kelvingrove Park and Kelvinbridge. The existing path is to be widened and the timber section replaced entirely. The plans are contained in this description and photomap. The work is presently undergoing detailed design and implementation should be complete by the end of 2012.

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.

Glasgow City Council has revised its Fit for Life map, the council's free cycle route map, and it is now online.

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.

We understand that work to upgrade the A89 footway had started by 1 September 2011.

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.

75 Go Bike has been advised that the NCN 75 Clyde Walkway cycle path at Dalmarnock will remain shut until at least the end of 2011. This is due to a collapsed sewer which has caused part of the path to collapse into a hole. Work to rectify the problem is the responsibility of Scottish Water. Work to divert the Camlachie Burn at a nearby site has been completed.

A diversion has been signed along Dalmarnock Road, Springfield Road and London Road. Cyclists could consider other options such as using main roads through Farme Cross in Rutherglen, or using London Road past Celtic Park to connect with the new Bridgeton cycle route.

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.