Strathclyde Cycle Campaign
Yes, consultation is underway on changes to the Highway Code. Their aim is to increase protection for ‘vulnerable’ road users, that’s pedestrians, cyclists and horse riders (see GoBike Consultation Digest).
Why is this important? Here’s why:
The Highway Code matters because it shapes the culture on our roads, from how road users treat each other, to how we police road users.
The Guardian, 28 July 2020
It was hoped that today’s Digest would be shorter than previous ones, until 5, yes 5, new speed cushion “consultations” arrived last Thursday, but we have limited the space given to them. On the topic of speed cushions and road safety, what price public opinion? See Item 1.11 for more.
We also have a new Transport Scotland consultation and a Planning Application that need your action, so do please read on.
Importantly, if the Digests are to continue, we need a production team, not just one person, who is a volunteer, to produce them. Yes, we are all volunteers in GoBike, but if you think you can help with these Digests please do get in touch, either via Slack or email consultations@gobike.org
Glasgow City Council have found 3 more areas that don’t yet have speed cushions – why can’t they wait for the Liveable Neighbourhoods Plan to be adopted? GoBike agrees that speeding motor traffic is a menace but our view is that the solution is bigger than speed cushions, as we explain in Section 1.
North Lanarkshire have found millions of pounds to spend on roads to Ravenscraig but not a cycle lane to be seen, see Item 3.3.
Better news: there’s still time to support Living Streets for their excellent campaign to get parked cars off our pavements and do please respond to the online survey on the Town Centre Action Plan.
Our feature photo in this Digest shows a road in the east end of Glasgow which is proposed for speed cushion treatment in an attempt to reduce the speed of motor vehicles (see Item 1.4). As private motor cars have increased in width, so has the width of speed cushions and in Section 1 we include 8 speed cushion proposals with speed cushions of 1.8, 1.9 and 2.0m widths, leaving people cycling with the choice of either cycling up and over the speed cushion at a sensible distance from the kerb of 1.0m or in the gap at the kerb, as narrow as 0.5m in many cases, or out in the middle of the road.
Since 18 August last year GoBike has received 20 proposals for traffic calming, primarily on residential streets, in Glasgow using speed cushions, but not one for modal filters to prevent through motor traffic. It is motor traffic that causes deaths and injuries on our roads, with 160 deaths in Scotland recorded in 2018 and many more people injured, yet active travel, particularly in the more deprived areas of the city, fails to get the infrastructure it needs. Speed cushions are tinkering at the edges and a Scotland-wide political solution is required to make our neighbourhoods safe and pleasant for us all.
This isn’t all about speed cushions, though, so do please read on.
Continue reading “Consultation Digest Issue 67, 18 August 2020: Speed cushion special.”
Glasgow City Council seem to have exhausted themselves with providing pop-up cycle lanes etc for social distancing and now we are back to “normal” with 5 proposals for traffic calming in different parts of the city. Plus GoBike members have been proactive in informing us that we need to protect what we’ve got in terms of current cycle provision and to consider changes to the Highway Code. And there’s even more, so do please read on.
Continue reading “Consultation Digest Issue 66, 04 August 2020: an abundance of new Consultations, some very topical and some old “favourites”. So do get involved in improving where you live.”
Cycling around the city reminds us that GoBike supported the proposed ban on pavement parking in Scotland and we supported the Deposit Return Scheme to, hopefully, get some of the glass off our streets. We’ve done a check and have updates for you, see Section 3, though the news could be better, plus updates from north, west and south of Glasgow and Motherwell. Do read on.
Continue reading “Consultation Digest Issue 65, 21 July 2020: What’s happened to Pavement Parking? Proposals approved but not enacted! Plus a request to contribute to the Streets for All Glasgow Commonplace Map, and more.”
Like many local authorities, East Renfrewshire has been giving some thought to transport and travel in the post-Covid world, and has received an initial £100,000 of Spaces for People Funding for safer walking, cycling, and wheeling.
This is a huge opportunity. In the past, many parts of East Ren have often felt like a hostile and dangerous place for people on bikes – yet the sheer number and diversity of people seen out enjoying walking and cycling during lockdown have shown just how much of a difference safer, low-traffic spaces can make. Almost 100,000 people live in the East Ren council area and with reduced capacity on public transport likely for the foreseeable future, safe routes for active travel are critical to avoid further locking in car-dependency.
Continue reading “East Renfrewshire is making positive steps for Active Travel”
On Tuesday GoBike published its latest Consultation Digest including details of work brought forward around Glasgow’s George Square to reduce private motor traffic 7am to 7pm and also measures to allow space for social distancing. But what’s the reality?
Continue reading “Is it a bike lane, a wider footway or a parking space?”
We are seeing lockdown starting to ease and our local high streets reopen for business, and with that comes the conversation about what to do with our public spaces to help both businesses and people with physical distancing.
One option might be to add some Parklets on many of Glasgow’s local high streets, particularly outside cafes and restaurants.
Continue reading “Green not Grey for our Streets – What street in Glasgow wouldn’t look better with a Parklet?”
From the feature photo with this Digest you will see that it is getting easier to cycle to Paradise! It is also now easier to cycle around George Square with private motor traffic banned from 7am to 7pm and perhaps next year it will be easier, and more interesting, to cycle along the canal at Stockingfield when the new overbridge has been constructed. News on these 3 items is in Section 3.
This Digest continues to promote the Commonplace maps, plus we have an interesting consultation on the Kingston Bridge and a copy of the GoBike submission for Pollok Park, where private cars are back parking irresponsibly.
Continue reading “Consultation Digest Issue 64, 07 July 2020: Lockdown eases and we see some positive changes!”