Paint is Not Protection – Byres Road

There are plans to spend £9m on Byres Road and when we found out from early design events that safe segregated cycle lanes were not going to be in the final plans (and this is despite cycle routes being in the top three findings from public consultations), we prepared to campaign.

Working closely with our mini-campaign Space for People Byres Road, we spent months communicating with the designers and councillor officers, fighting the case for a space for cycling for people of all ages and abilities to be considered within the plans. We started putting out the case for safe cycling in the area in blogs like these:

The final consultation came out and we found nothing safer than a painted line. Our response, which we encouraged others to follow, was this:

And we also got out there, with action on the streets, and told the city council, and the rest of the world, that Paint is Not Protection.

Read the Evening Times article here.

Read the Glasgow West End Today article here.

In September 2018 we were delighted to find that the final consultation findings had been so overwhelmingly in favour of better facilities for active travel, that the council have had to listen and effect a rethink. They have agreed at committee to look again at the designs for the street, with an  amendment passed agreeing to a commitment to provide segregated cycling the full length of the street, and a promise to consider a reduction in the through traffic on a street that records regularly high pollution levels. We view this as a great success and look forward to seeing plans that consider everyone on Byres Road, with active travel correctly prioritised.

We continue to work with the designers and the council on the next steps. For your info, we’ve preserved the relevant reports and findings on Byres Road on our Strategy Evidence page here.