GoBike

 

Glasgow City Council propose, sorry, have already, moved the Fastlink bus route from the outer to the nearside lane between Whitefield Road and Elder Street in Govan.  Even more sensible is their move to allow cycles (and taxis) to use the nearside bus lane!  We have asked if this means that cycles may now (legally) use all nearside Fastlink bus lanes.  We await their response.

Response received – very promptly and here it is:

“The letter sent refers only to the section between Whitefield Road and Elder Street, where the bus lanes have been changed from offside, to nearside, and, the nearside lane in Golspie Street. All nearside bus lanes within this section will now be open to all Local Buses, Taxis and Cycles.

The only other lengths of nearside bus lanes along the length of the Fastlink route are between Elder Street and Moss Road, which are already open to all Local Buses, Taxis and Cycles.

The segregated lanes crossing the Clyde Arc are also open to Cycles, but not open to Taxis. The signing currently shows this, though the road markings have still to be amended, and will be amended in the near future.

All other segregated sections along the length of the Fastlink route will remain as Local Buses only. This refers to the segregated sections along Pacific Drive, along Golspie Street, and, at Linthouse roundabout.”  So now you know!

Kyleakin Road, Thornliebank: GCC propose parking and loading restrictions on Kyleakin Road, particularly at junctions, which we applaud.  However, they propose to remove waiting and loading restrictions opposite the junction with Kyleakin Terrace, for which we have asked for an explanation.

On Gartloch Road, to the east of the city, it is proposed to reduce the speed limit from 60 to 40mph for a section.  We approve this reduction.

All our responses may be seen on our Consultations page   Please add your support by writing to the Council.

 

Glasgow City Council propose changes to Union Street by moving a taxi rank and parking places, changes to Argyle Street by removing the westbound lane under the Hielanman’s Umbrella and associated changes on Jamaica Street, Midland Street and Oswald Street.  This is ostensibly being done to improve bus flow but we see it as an opportunity missed to “humanise” Union Street and our alternative proposal to introduce a two-way contraflow cycling lane on Union Street (with the potential to extend south along Jamaica Street to the river) is here: TRO opportunity

Full details of the Traffic Regulation Order (TRO) are given on the City Council website; there’s a link to the website and the GoBike letter in response to the TRO on our Consultations page.  If you support our counter proposal to get a good cycle facility to and from Glasgow Central Station please write into Glasgow City Council, by e-mail to graeme.dewar@glasgow.gov.uk by the closing date of 04 March 2016.

It should be noted that we have already discussed our proposal with Glasgow City Council, via the Glasgow Cycling Forum (set up on the initiative of GoBike!) and we are delighted that they are currently modelling the route!  Also of interest is the item on the Glasgow Taxis website opposing the changes, see: http://www.glasgowtaxis.co.uk/news/145-proposed-traffic-regulation-order.html

We will no doubt hear more of these proposals!

 

We go to the polls in May and it’s just one month today, four weeks tomorrow, until 16 March when we hold the first ever GoBike! Hustings at the Admiral Bar, 72a Waterloo Street, Glasgow.  Our 6 candidates are now confirmed and they are:

• Claudia Beamish, Labour MSP for South Scotland list;
• Cat Boyd, RISE candidate for Glasgow list;
  
• Robert Brown, Liberal Democrat candidate for Glasgow list;
• Patrick Harvie, Green Party MSP for Glasgow and Green Party co-convener;
• Sandra White, Scottish National Party MSP for Glasgow Kelvin;
• Brian Whittle, Conservative candidate for Kilmarnock and Irvine Valley.

and the event will be chaired by Glasgow-based journalist, Pennie Taylor.

Doors open at 7pm, the event starts at 7:30 and you can book your (free) ticket at: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/gobike-hustings-tickets-7815340895

The event is not restricted to GoBike members; indeed we hope to attract a large audience, with visitors encouraged to join on the night to support the work of the campaign.

Booking a ticket will help us plan the event, and you can also e-mail your question to: hustings@gobike.org  We can then compile questions, and can even include your question if you are unable to attend.

Further details of the event are on our Hustings page.

Glasgow City Council’s Sustainability and the Environment Policy Development Committee meets on Wednesday 03 February to consider the report instructed from Land and Environment Services (LES) following the petition submitted last year requesting the implementation of a 20mph speed limit for most of the roads and streets within the city.  Hopefully, if you live in Glasgow, you signed the petition, which was set up by one of our GoBike! members.

LES have now submitted their report to the committee and it falls far short of the remit they were given!

The original remit given to LES is here and the full report for the committee is given here The 20mph report is Item 3 on pages 71 – 76 (yes, Councillors get a lot of reading!).  (You will see that Item 2 is the latest draft of The Strategic Plan for Cycling, which you might find of interest.)

We have now written to the committee members to request that they ask LES to meet the terms they were instructed to report on.  Our letter is here: SE Pol Dev Cttee letter 310116

If you care about the 20mph limit being implemented within the next few years, rather than over 40 years as per the current programme, please write to the councillors on the committee, particularly if one of them represents your ward.  They are listed at: http://glasgow.gov.uk/councillorsandcommittees/committee.asp?bodyid=8&bodytitle=Sustainability+and+the+Environment+Policy+Development+Committee