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.