Here’s the bridge with three names: Clyde Arc, Finnieston and Squinty and it’s currently sending us a bit squinty. There have been several changes in the traffic regime over the bridge since it was built with a recent one being the inclusion of bikes on the Fastlink bus lanes on the west side, but now Glasgow City Council propose to also allow taxis. Oh dear. See our detailed response in item 1.8. We also have lots more for you in this digest, including the contrasting GoBike responses to Byres Road and South City Way, so do please read on. Continue reading “Consultation Digest Issue 11, Going squinty about the Squinty Bridge, Byres Road submission, 20mph, parking etc etc”
Consultation Digest Issue 10, 30 May 2018, Byres Road and lots lots more!
Yes, as you probably know, the Byres Road consultation has started (see below (1.9)) and we are extremely disappointed. And there’s loads more in this digest. Parking controls in Hyndland, Hughenden and Dowanhill West, and near Lenzie Station – calling all residents of those areas for comments! 20mph areas – we have our response to Woodside and news of the Calton Barras proposal for just east of the City Centre. The city centre is already a 20mph zone, but why doesn’t anyone let the motor drivers know? There’s also news of moves to change the road layout at the SEC in Glasgow, with not a thought to those of us who go by bike, and furthermore, we will be suggesting Dutch-style roundabout layouts for Spiersbridge and Eastwood Toll roundabouts in East Renfrewshire. Please read on: Continue reading “Consultation Digest Issue 10, 30 May 2018, Byres Road and lots lots more!”
Consultations Digest Issue 9, 15 May: Cycle Lanes and Hazardous Access to Glasgow City Centre plus Dangerous Roundabouts in East Renfrewshire.
East Renfrewshire Council are asking for views on both the Eastwood Toll Roundabout( A77/A727), (pictured left) and the Spiersbridge Roundabout (A727/B769) (Item 1.1) and in other news, yes that’s right, Glasgow City Council are unable to give us cycle lanes along Bridge Street to get us to the Clyde (Item 3.1).
As well as this we have some exciting news from Yorkhill and Kelvingrove Community Council, who are looking to make their area active travel friendly! Let’s hope it catches on (Item 1.7). Continue reading “Consultations Digest Issue 9, 15 May: Cycle Lanes and Hazardous Access to Glasgow City Centre plus Dangerous Roundabouts in East Renfrewshire.”
Swinton Avenue, Baillieston: proposed speed cushions will leave cyclists in the gutter
Glasgow City Council propose, in a recent e-mail headed “Swinton Avenue Traffic Calming Scheme”: “to consider the introduction of the above named Traffic Calming Scheme and I wish to establish the views of your organisation.
Background to the proposed Scheme
The scheme is aimed at improving road safety by reducing vehicle speeds and discouraging rat-running.
Roads affected by the proposed Scheme
The list of roads affected by these proposals are:-
Swinton Avenue
Details of the proposed Scheme
The proposed Scheme (as depicted on the attached plan) will comprise of:-
- 4 sets of 1.9m x 1.9m 75mm high speed cushions.”
Their drawing: Swinton Avenue Traffic Calming Propsal shows only 0.5m at the outer side of each set of speed cushion, ie one would have to cycle right in the gutter, over the cushion or in the 0.7m gap between the 2 cushions.
There appears to have been no consideration of active travel and we have proposed options of one-way chicanes with cycle bypasses or for the road to be stopped up allowing only cycle through traffic, and we have copied our letter, GoBike Consultations Swinton Avenue Traffic Calming 13 Dec 2017 to the 3 Councillors for the Ward, ie Ward 20, Baillieston. We have also mentioned the potential impact of Mark Ruskell’s 20mph bill – if you haven’t written to your constituency and list MSPs to ask them to support this, please do so!
Comments on the Swinton Avenue proposal are required by this Friday, 15 December – sorry for the short notice – but if you wish to put your comments in please do so to: LandServices.Mailroom@glasgow.gov.uk
20mph needs you!
We put a call out a few weeks ago for members to add support to a 20mph bill being put forward in Holyrood. If it goes through, it will see a reduction in the default speed limit from 30mph to 20mph for built up areas in Scotland (while allowing local authorities to keep appropriate arterial routes at current speeds). As well as reducing accidents, lowering air pollution and making our streets more people friendly, this will also negate the need for the costly and pollutive traffic calming measures that our members have been discussing over on Slack (drop us an email if you’d like to sign up!). It would also save our councils on the currently lengthy and costly process they need to undergo to designate a particular 20mph zone, in fact this was a cause we as GoBike fought on locally for Glasgow just a few years ago. http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/13213540.Victory_for_cycle_campaigners_as_petition_to_turn_Glasgow_into_20mph_city_referred_to_council_policymakers/
The great news is that Mark Ruskell MSP who has been working on the bill has now reached the threshold of support to take 20mph to vote, but he has let us know that if he can get a wider range of cross party support on it, it will make the bill proposal stronger when moving forward. So we still need your help! If you can ask your MSPs to sign up to the bill (particularly those from the Lib Dem and Scottish Conservatives Party of whom none have signed up so far) it could be a really significant help.
You can do this simply by sending an email voicing your support, perhaps outlining some reasons why, some of which you might find here https://greens.scot/saferstreets or here https://www.cyclinguk.org/campaign/20-mph-lower-speeds-better-streets
Find how to contact your local MSP here: https://www.writetothem.com/
The deadline is 19th December.
Thank you GoBike members!
Get Your MSP to Sign Up To The 20mph Bill
Mark Ruskell has recently submitted his 20mph bill in its final form to Holyrood.
GoBike support this Bill and would ask that you contact your MSP and encourage them to sign up to the Bill.
The Bill proposal is open for signing till December 19th. They can do that by emailing the Chamber Desk in Parliament.
Buy your shares in Speed Cushions now – and prepare for a bumpy ride!
Glasgow City Council are currently consulting on 3 proposals, one to install 8 asphalt road humps (similar to the photo) and two to install a total of 251 speed cushions, in 3 separate areas of Glasgow where a 20mph speed limit is being introduced. This is despite Councillor Anna Richardson, Convenor of Sustainability and Carbon Reduction, saying, infront of about 200 people at today’s Cycling Scotland Conference in Glasgow, that her aim is to go for a city-wide 20mph speed limit with a justification being made for retaining limits of 30mph. We have studied the proposals and have submitted objections. In each case we have objected on the grounds that there has been no consideration of cycle traffic, that the money would be better spent on a city-wide scheme and have suggested that there should be liaison with Police Scotland to educate motorists who risk injury and death by exceeding the speed limit. The 3 proposals are:
Kempsthorn Road, Beltrees Road and Beltrees Crescent in Pollok, where 8 asphalt road humps are proposed. We have suggested in addition that if the area is being used as a rat run that the through route should be blocked to motor traffic, which would have the added benefit of encouraging active travel. A copy of the initial e-mail and the plan from GCC, plus the GoBike letter of objection are below:
Kempsthorn Road Traffic Calming email sent 11October 2017 Kempsthorn Road Traffic Calming GoBike Kempsthorn Road traffic calming objection 311017
Kingsland Drive and Thurston Road in Hillington/Cardonald, where 7 sets of cushions, ie 14 cushions in total, are proposed. We have suggested that cycle lanes should be installed using armadillos or similar on each side of these roads, which, by narrowing the roadway, would reduce traffic speeds and also encourage active travel. We do not know whether any analysis of the speeding vehicles has been carried out, but should it be that the roads are being used as a rat run then, either as an alternative, or an addition to the cycle lanes, consideration should be given to stopping off the through route to motor traffic. A copy of the initial e-mail and the plan from GCC, plus the GoBike letter of objection are below:
Kingsland Drive email sent 09October 2017 Kingsland Drive traffic calming GoBike Kingsland Drive and Thurston Road traffic calming objection 311017
Consultation on both these schemes closes tomorrow 01 November, so if you wish to also submit an objection – or even a letter of support, we haven’t left you much time – sorry.
The third scheme, for which consultation closes on Friday 03 November is:
The Citywide 6A Traffic Calming Scheme, which, we are very pleased to see, covers a much bigger area than any proposed to date by Glasgow City Council, see this photograph of the plan:
This covers the very area where, with no consultation of which we are aware, shared footways are being installed under the guise of Fastlink Cycle Upgrades – see our previous post of 25 October. While it is good to see a bigger area proposed for 20mph we are not pleased to see that it is proposed to install 237, yes 237, speed cushions in this one area alone. At this rate, how many will be required for the whole city? A truly citywide scheme is required where it is clear that, unless otherwise signed, speed limit is 20mph, and is managed as such. We have suggested that cycle lanes using armadillos, or similar, be installed on either side of each road here to reduce motor traffic speeds and encourage active travel. GCC’s e-mail to us and our letter of objection are here: Citywide 6A email sent 13 October 2017 GoBike Citywide 6A traffic calming scheme objection 311017
Why doesn’t Glasgow City Council go for a city-wide 20mph default speed limit – yet another isolated zone is proposed.
Yes, it’s time for some blue sky thinking in Glasgow. We have been sent a raft of proposals to install speed cushions in 20mph zones across the city, and here’s our response to the first one: GoBike Carmunnock Road traffic calming objection 251017 and the text is below. We recognise that it is counter-intuitive to some to object to traffic calming but please read our arguments:
“THE Glasgow City Council (CARMUNNOCK ROAD) TRAFFIC CALMING SCHEME Order 201_ Objection
Thank you for your e-mail of 06 October and the opportunity to comment on this proposal.
GoBike! objects to this proposed Traffic Calming scheme on Carmunnock Road 20mph. We are, as you know, fully supportive of 20mph speed limits in residential, shopping and education areas, but we cannot support the current approach.
We object to this order on the following grounds:
-
As currently specified neither the written description nor the plan drawing indicate the limits of the proposed 20mph zone. The Council must make clear and publicise the extent of the proposed 20mph zone and until this is done GoBike will maintain its objection. To be clear, where will the 20mph signs be located?
-
Without a clear definition of the extent of the proposed 20mph Traffic Calming Scheme it is impossible to comment as to whether the proposed installation of speed cushions will likely achieve the desired reduction in traffic speed.
-
GoBike also notes that the proposed Traffic Calming scheme is deficient as there is no discussion as to the reason for placing 3 sets of speed cushions on a seemingly arbitrary section of arterial road. It begs the question, is this truly the full extent of road section where there is a speeding issue? This is exceptionally unlikely and GoBike take the view that the budget to be spent on installing speed cushions over a very small area would be far better spent on creating a much larger 20mph zone through the installation of signage only. In this event we would ask the Council to simultaneously liaise with the Police to educate drivers that 20mph zones are created for a very good reason, ie to prevent injury and death as your proposal indicates.
-
As far as can be determined from the very limited data in the proposed Traffic Calming scheme, no allowance has been made for cycle traffic. GoBike notes that the section of Carmunnock Road where the speed cushions are proposed to be sited is well-used by cyclists, see: https://labs.strava.com/heatmap/#15/-4.25476/55.81795/blue/bike. Whilst the drawing CATHCART_001 is marked as not-to-scale, Carmunnock Road near the site of the proposed speed cushions is understood to be about 12m wide. The positioning of 4 speed cushions across the carriageway suggests that cyclists will therefore be forced to cycle in the gutter if they are to avoid cycling over a speed cushion. Bicycles are as much traffic as are motor vehicles and GoBike considers the proposed scheme deficient on the grounds that no allowance has been made for cycles.
-
As a constructive alternative proposal, GoBike consider a far better way to reduce vehicle speeds, over a longer section of road, would be to narrow the road by installing a cycle lane on each side using one of the methods, such as armadillos, as installed in the City Council’s trial area on Aikenhead Road. Armadillos, and similar, are cheaper and less invasive to install and far cheaper to maintain than speed bumps or cushions. Reducing the width available to motor vehicles would naturally reduce their speed and such a scheme would have the added benefit of encouraging active travel.
As a final statement, GoBike consider that the money allocated to this scheme, one of many in the city, would be better spent on a city wide scheme. In our view, and as was agreed by the City Council’s Petitions Committee in spring 2015, a city-wide default speed limit of 20mph should be introduced, with exemptions then being made for the main arterial routes into the city. The current piecemeal system is expensive and very confusing for the road user. The national climate is towards the spirit of Mark Ruskell, MSP’s bill to the Scottish Parliament, with an urban default speed limit of 20mph, and Glasgow should be leading the way in this.
Yours sincerely,
Convenor, GoBike!”
and here is Glasgow City Council’s proposal:
MESSAGE SENT ON BEHALF OF ANDY WADDELL
HEAD OF INFRASTRUCTURE AND ENVIRONMENT
LAND AND ENVIRONMENTAL SERVICES
Dear Sir / Madam
THE GLASGOW CITY COUNCIL
(CARMUNNOCK ROAD)
TRAFFIC CALMING SCHEME 201_
The Council propose to consider the introduction of the above named Traffic Calming Scheme and I wish to establish the views of your organisation.
Background to the proposed Scheme
Glasgow City Council are currently in the process of implementing Mandatory 20mph Speed Limit Zones throughout the City.
The purpose of the Mandatory 20mph Speed Limit Zone is to ensure that vehicle users reduce their speeds to 20mph or less, and therefore improve road safety for pedestrians, cyclists and all other vehicle users. By turn, it is anticipated that this will encourage more people to walk and cycle, which would have associated health benefits.
Furthermore, a report by Department for Transport (DfT), titled, ‘Relationship between Speed and Risk of Fatal Injury: Pedestrians and Car Occupants’, notes the following benefits:
– If someone is hit by a car at 40 mph they are 30% likely to be killed.
– If someone is hit by a car at 30 mph they are 7% likely to be killed.
– If someone is hit by a car at 20 mph they are 1% likely to be killed.
The Council installed two speed tables on Carmunnock Road however; following feedback from local residents, the speed table located east of Madison Avenue has since been removed. In order to encourage low vehicle speeds, the council propose to install three sets of speed cushions between Nos.140 – 178 Carmunnock Road.
Roads affected by the proposed Scheme
The list of roads affected by these proposals are:-
- Carmunnock Road
Details of the proposed Scheme
The proposed Scheme (as depicted on the attached plans) will comprise of:-
- The installation of 4 speed cushions at a point approximately 15 metres east of the extended east kerbline of Crompton Avenue (approximately 2m in width, 3m in length and 75mm in height).
- The installation of 4 speed cushions at a point approximately 5 metres east of the extended east kerbline of Madison Avenue (approximately 2m in width, 3m in length and 75mm in height).
- The installation of 4 speed cushions at a point approximately 5 metres east of the extended east kerbline of Fairfax Avenue (approximately 2m in width, 3m in length and 75mm in height).
Please provide any comments you wish to make on these proposals within 21 days (reply by 27 October 2017).
In the meantime, should you require any further information or clarification on any points arising from the proposals, do not hesitate to contact my officer John Telfer on 0141 287 3723 .
Should the Council proceed with these proposals; I will write to you again and confirm this.
Yours faithfully
Andy Waddell
Head of Infrastructure and Environment
Land and Environmental Services Carmunnock Road – Traffic Calming_001 (Publication)
If you agree with our view, or even if you support the City Council with this one, do write in and let them know; the e-mall address to write to is LandServices.Mailroom@glasgow.gov.uk but please do this by Friday 27 October.
Partick 20mph, the discussion goes on …
You may remember that last month we posted our response to Glasgow City Council’s proposals for parking restrictions within the 20mph zone in Partick. While we support 20mph as a default urban speed limit, we do not support Glasgow City Council’s piecemeal approach. We are very unhappy that parking is allowed on both sides of relatively narrow one way streets, which prevents not only cycle lanes being provided but also prevents contraflow cycling. Indeed, it seems that some streets are made one way simply to allow parking both sides.
Glasgow City Council have responded to our letter with an e-mail that:
- implies we want every road and street in Glasgow to be 20mph. We do not; we accept that some radial routes will operate at 30 or even 40mph.
- maintains their piecemeal approach, albeit they are accelerating slightly, which could take years to make the city a 20mph city, save for exceptions of some main roads outwith shopping areas or high accident areas.
- maintains their current approach to installing traffic calming.
All this is an expensive way to do what, in our view, could be done quicker by following what we understand to be the Edinburgh approach, ie a city-wide approach.
Our 2 letters and the intervening GCC e-mail text are on our Consultations page. Please read them and do comment on further Consultations, particularly if you live or work in the areas affected.
Give your view, 20mph, Borders rail corridor, Air Quality and more …. Your view is important.
GoBike is a member of Transform Scotland, a body that campaigns for public and active travel and they have sent out this list of current consultations – all of which impinge on those of us who cycle. If you haven’t already, then please do give your views on them all.
“Consultation on default 20mph speed limit in urban areas
Deadline: 7 August, NOW EXTENDED TO 15 SEPTEMBER. Please tell all your friends, family, colleagues etc
Mark Ruskell MSP is proposing a Bill to be put forward in the Scottish Parliament to make 20mph the default speed limit in urban areas. There is now a consultation on this proposed Bill, which aims to gather the opinion of the public on a default 20mph speed limit. You can share your views by filling out this survey. To read about the benefits of 20mph limits, please see here.
Transport Scotland — Borders Transport Corridors Study survey
Deadline: 11 August
Transport Scotland are welcoming comments from members of the public and organisations on future transport developments in the Scottish Borders. Chief among the priorities for the Borders should be extending the Borders Railway beyond Tweedbank. We would also encourage people to call for support for bus services in the Borders; and better infrastructure for cycling on key routes in the Borders. Views can be submitted here.
ECCLR Committee — Consultation on Air Quality in Scotland
Deadline: 18 August
The Parliament’s Environment, Climate Change and Land Reform (ECCLR) Committee have launched a public consultation on air quality in Scotland. The Committee are keen to hear about a range of issues relating to air quality, more information on which can be found here. To see the consultation and respond, please visit the Committee’s consultation page.
Scottish Government — Consultation on the Air Departure Tax (ADT) Bill
Deadline: 15 September
The Scottish Government is proposing a 50% reduction in ADT by the end of the current session of the Scottish Parliament and also abolishing the tax in the future. The Government has launched two public consultations on ADT relating to the overall policy, and the environmental impact of the policy. To read the consultation and respond, see here. To read one of our recent briefings outlining our position on a cut to ADT, please see here.
Scottish Government — Consultation on the Climate Change Bill
Deadline: 22 September
The Scottish Government has launched a consultation on the new Climate Change Bill. Proposals include setting targets based on actual emissions, increasing the 2050 target to 90% emissions reduction, and making provisions for a net-zero greenhouse gas emissions target to be set. The Bill itself makes technical changes, but does not focus on specific policies — this leaves the risk of little action being taken to tackle transport emissions. To read and respond to the consultation, please see here. Stop Climate Chaos Scotland have also prepared a response that people can sign and send to the Scottish Government. To see this and add your name, see here.
For more information on these action alerts and others, see our website at <www.transformscotland.org.uk/whats-new/action-alerts>.”