Glasgow City Council have put their planned closures of cycling and walking routes around the COP26 security cordon out for what they are calling “consultation”. The link to their Section 11 Order is here. This means that we now all have an opportunity to submit our representations or objections, giving our grounds for objection if so. 

The “consultation” has also noted that “we have proposed alternative routes to help pedestrians and cyclists navigate around the area during the event and would welcome comments or ideas about the proposed routes”. While we would have preferred to be consulted directly on this as outlined in our petition, we will use this opportunity to feed in our suggestions for improvements to the planned diversions, which we outline below.

We would encourage you to respond – the deadline if you wish to object is September 3rd.

GoBike plan to object to the Section 11 Order on the grounds that:

• The security cordon encompasses a number of key corridor active travel core path routes, which should remain open for all as a matter of priority at all times, not least during a climate conference. Diversions planned as a result of the core path closures mean that people walking and cycling will have to take lengthy diversions, where planned diversions for people on bikes are likely to be unsafe, unless Glasgow City Council agree to create cycle lanes physically protected from motor traffic.
• The cordon along Finnieston Street originally promised to keep space open for people cycling has now changed to walking only. The security plan demonstrates that all four lanes of this street are outside the security zone. The fact that the pavement will be open for walking suggests that proximity to the boundary is not an issue here. Creating a segregated cycle lane here with temporary barriers does not appear to raise obvious safety concerns and would significantly reduce the impact of the closures. This would require moving the boundary in only a few metres to provide a bi-directional active travel lane up and down Finnieston Street.

We have sent in a number of suggestions to council officers regarding the planned diversions. These centre around the need for our proposed Conference Active Travel Lanes which we hope will be adopted in order to see improvements made for people cycling in already difficult conditions.

1. Conference Active Travel Lanes

Closing a key city active travel corridor during a climate crisis has a devastating impact on measures that we and the council have been taking to encourage a greater modal shift towards active travel. To close active travel routes and fail to provide a high spec alternative that works for all users during a climate conference is deeply damaging to the safety of people choosing cycling, due to the environmental impact it will create, and also for the reputation of the city when the eyes of the world will be watching. For these reasons we need Glasgow City Council to do more – diversion signs and paint on the road is not going to be enough. We propose that Glasgow City Council work to create a network of Conference Active Travel Lanes around the city, particularly where key routes are to be closed.

A number of issues are present with the current planned diversions, as well as their length. Many of the streets, particularly Argyle Street are large streets with high volumes of fast moving traffic on them. These are not suitable roads for cycling for all users. James Watt Street is a one way street, currently narrowed by construction works and provides no suggested opportunity for contraflow cycling, therefore the diversion doesn’t work in practice here. Further, the diversion includes the expectation that people on bikes must dismount at pedestrian crossings under the Kingston Bridge.

Necessary diversions for a traffic free National Cycle Network route MUST retain their motor traffic free status in order to be suitable for “all users”. We have seen from Spaces for People schemes that temporary traffic free cycle lanes CAN be implemented quickly, and we would like to see the council build on this experience and use what has been learned through it, to provide safe diversionary spaces for people on bikes. 

The conference and its exclusion zone has been on the radar of the council for a long time, and we simply cannot accept that time is the issue with failing to implement a safe active travel diversion. We propose that all routes on the suggested diversions and on the proposed conference Active Travel Map provide separated space, dedicated for active travel, physically protected from motor traffic.

2. Finnieston Street. 

We urge Glasgow City Council to work hard to liaise with the police on recent decisions made on Finnieston Street. It is clear that if a Conference Active Travel Lane were present on Finnieston Street, that lengthy diversions (2 miles, by your proposed route) could be avoided. Asking people on bikes to get off and walk here is counter to all active travel provision plans and would fail to pass an equality impact assessment that takes the needs of people with disabilities using bikes as mobility aids, into account.

The security plan demonstrates that all four lanes of this street are outside the security zone. The fact that the pavement will be open for walking suggests that proximity to the   boundary is not an issue here. Creating a segregated cycle lane here with temporary barriers does not appear to raise obvious safety concerns and would significantly reduce the impact of the closures. This would require moving the boundary in only a few metres to provide a bi-directional active travel lane up and down Finnieston Street. The council needs to have a willingness to push further with the police on this and we ask that issues surrounding active travel are raised again on this.

3. The Clydeside Expressway 

We have had a communication from Glasgow City Council stating that the Clydeside Expressway will be periodically closed during the conference to motor traffic. We propose that the closures to motor traffic on this section of the Expressway extend throughout the period of the Section 11 implementation, and that this road is repurposed as a Conference Active Travel Lane.

4. Ferry Road to Kelvinhaugh Street Cycle Path

The cycle path that follows the Clydeside Expressway between Ferry Road and Kelvinhaugh Street is on the very edge of the security cordon and so there is no reason why it cannot remain open.  The security benefits from closing this section of the path to cyclists/pedestrians must be limited, yet the inconvenience caused by its closure is large. We propose that this section remains open for active travel, reducing lengthy diversions.

5. The West City Way and NCN 756 Bridge

Despite asking the question, we are still unclear as to the reasoning for the closure of these core paths and have not been satisfied with an answer as to why. These are vital sections of traffic free routes in the city and we propose that they are kept open in the absence of good reason for closure. If they absolutely must be closed, the closure should only be at times where the security risk is high.

We sincerely hope that Glasgow City Council will consider working proactively to improve an already difficult situation for people choosing cycling in our city.

Our petition (link here, you still have time to sign!) called for proper consultation with our cycle campaign prior to releasing the planned diversions, and the failure to do so is clearly demonstrated in the proposed diversions in the plan. Failure to consult with us has come despite numerous requests, plus council agreement that GoBike would be consulted directly, at the ‘Environment, Sustainability and Carbon Reduction City Policy Committee’ on Tuesday 8th of June.

While we are concerned that this Section 11 Order is very far removed from effective consultation, we will use this opportunity to feed in our proposals and hope that you can add your support.

It is essential that much more is done for active travel during the climate conference and we would expect to see a council, who have declared a climate emergency, to do more than simply put up diversion signs along a long, convoluted and unsafe route for people cycling. We believe that repurposing road space around the COP26 cordon for protected active travel lanes is the solution.

** We have sent these suggestions in to the council today and have already received endorsements and support from Glasgow Eco Trust, Get Glasgow Moving, the office of Patrick Harvie MSP **

Important Information from Scottish Water

Owner /Occupier
12th March 2019
Taking care of your Sewer Network in Glasgow
What we are doing
We are working hard to protect and enhance the natural environment in Scotland. Further to the
investigation works carried out along the River Kelvin in August 2018, we now require to carry out
preparation works in advance of the main project in the Summer of 2019. The project will help
improve the environment of the River Kelvin and help prevent items such as rags, wet wipes that
are wrongly flushed down the toilet from overflowing into the River Kelvin during storm events.
Please visit www.scottishwater.co.uk/riverkelvin for a 2min video overview of the benefits of the
project.
When are we doing it
Preparation works are to be carried out on the Kelvin
walkway from 18th March for 5 days. A section of the
walkway near Garrioch Drive will be closed on 19th March
for 1 day. Diversions will be in place. See page 2 for details.
Your water supply should not be affected during this period and toilets and sinks can be
used as normal.
What happens next
• A manhole survey is to be carried out along the sewer near the Kelvin walkway.
• Works vehicles will access down to the walkway from Garrioch Drive.
• To make space for the new infrastructure we require to remove some trees. New trees will be
planted upon project completion. We have also carried out ecology surveys and tree surveys
before we started the project. Careful consideration has been taken in order to minimise the
number of trees being removed.
• A large tree that has a fungal disease (near the Kelvin walkway off Garrioch Drive) is required
to be removed as it is in a precarious condition. Trees are normally removed section by
section using a tree surgeon on a harness. This method is not possible due to the poor
condition so the ‘timber’ method of the whole tree in one cut will have to be carried out on
Tuesday 19th March. We expect the force of the fall of the tree may damage the footpath so
will have a squad ready to reinstate the footpath.
Project reference
Capital/403104/aBV
Our alliance partner amey Black & Veatch
will carry out our work on our behalf.
scottishwater

• You may notice minor noise from construction vehicles and an increase in construction
vehicles parked in the street.
• Our working times shall be Monday to Friday, 8am to 6pm.

Thank you for your patience and understanding while we complete this essential work.
Yours Sincerely
Paul Milligan
aBV Communications Manager

Network Rail will be doing some refurbishment works on the rail over bridge at Adelphi Street between 18/2/19 and 7/4/19.

They will be building a scaffolding structure around the bridge. However, the core path will remain open, but narrowed to about 2m. Whilst restrictive, it is much preferable to closing the route.

The council has requested that they place the below signs (or similar) on the approach to either side of the bridge.