I think this is a question that a lot of us have been asking ourselves; will we see change on our streets? Will our streets finally be for the people? Is this the starting point towards a more sustainable and carbon neutral Glasgow?
We could be like Paris, Milan, Oakland and many other cities around the globe. However, 11 weeks since staying at home was put into place and two weeks since Glasgow City Council passed the motion to move forward in creating Space for People with £3.5 million, and we have not seen any concrete plans on our streets.
Where is the space for people queuing at shops, bus stops and services? Where is the space for people to make the choice to simply use the humble bike to get around? Where is the space, and the leap needed toward creating a new normal that puts walking, wheeling and cycling at the front?
We have seen a few additions, and it was nice. We can now walk, wheel and cycle along the full length of Kelvin Way, which has been a great addition to creating a calmer and greener space for the people of this city. We have a few cycle lanes, such as the westbound lane between Saltmarket to the Clyde Arc, which has the ability to reduce the pressure on the river walkway. However, it is not only solely westbound, but also just looks like road works to the untrained eye; where is the humble round blue cycle sign? We also have one in the east, and well done to On Bikes for creating that tactile urbanist cycle lane which the council has now made official with some bright green paint!
Is that it though? Where is our network? Where are our pop-up connections that are needed to create a safe and accessible network to get the people of our city around efficiently and simply, to reduce strain on our public transport and to leave the car at home in order to give those who need to use one the ability to use it without being stuck in traffic?
We need this change, we need to get things down on our streets, and we need things done in weeks not years! We need to keep the pressure up and we need to keep demanding this change, the change for making Glasgow a city that puts people first, a city that lets its people make the choice to walk, wheel and cycle!
Please keep sharing your views on Glasgow Council’s Commonplace map and nagging your local elected officials to push for this change to happen today and not when it’s too late!
If you haven’t yet, you should add your voice to GoBike by joining us today, because that’ll help us make our collective voice louder.
Not long after the Farcelink lanes opened on Broomielaw I suggested buses going westbound could use one lane with a bus lane eastbound on north side of Broomielaw enabling a 2 way cycle path to be created on the Farcelink lane on the redundant bus lane. Farcelink in total is an example of poor road design and the buses rarely keep to the 20 mph speed where this operates.
The other thing about Glasgow as a city for cyclists is that it would not be too difficult using existing roads to create an inner circle of cycle paths following the general line of the subway and expanded to Bridgeton/Parkhead/Dennistoun in the east and an outer circle taking in the peripheral housing schemes. These circles could be linked by ‘spokes’ cycle paths to the proposed and existing Avenues projects. Glasgow has the roads capacity to accommodate this quite easily and it would be comparatively inexpensive.
Agree with the post. Council seems to be focusing primarily on the city centre, but the issue is that people need to be able to safely travel to the city centre to enjoy it/do their commissions, etc. Only mass method of transport, as things stand, are cars and public transport, both of which are discourage, the former for air quality/environmental and congestion issues, the latter due to the pandemic. I know there are plans for temporary measures for other areas, but, living in Dennistoun, I have not seen any changes as of yet and hope to see these implemented sooner later than later as traffic is still low and the good season allows for more outdoor activity, both making people more willing to try city cycling.