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.”

Garnethill, car parking but no cycle contraflow – Public Exhibition on Parking Controls Thursday 22 and Saturday 24 March 2018

Just in from Green Councillor, Bailie Christy Mearns, is the news that there are public consultation events this coming Thursday, 22 March, 2pm – 8pm and Saturday 24 March, 12pm – 4pm at the Garnethill
Multicultural Centre, 21 Rose Street G3 6RE (just along from the GFT), see this letter for details: Letter to Affected Area – Public Exhibition letter Continue reading “Garnethill, car parking but no cycle contraflow – Public Exhibition on Parking Controls Thursday 22 and Saturday 24 March 2018”

Consultations Digest Issue 3, 20 February 2018 – Stushies brewing: Elmbank Street Glasgow and Cowgate Kirkintilloch

 

Yes, folks, we have a couple of contentious situations in this issue.  See Section 3, Consultations Feedback where we discuss whether Elmbank Street will provide northbound access to the Sauchiehall Street cycle lane, but first, see Section 1 for the threat to the so-called “shared space” along Cowgate, the main street in Kirkintilloch.  Continue reading “Consultations Digest Issue 3, 20 February 2018 – Stushies brewing: Elmbank Street Glasgow and Cowgate Kirkintilloch”

Consultations: new and forthcoming in Glasgow, with even more speed cushions proposed for Santa’s sack

Here’s a picture of the brand new Broomhill School and the City Council propose to make the road going up to the right on the picture one-way.  But have they considered active travel and all the work other bits of the council do to encourage children to cycle to school?  We fear they haven’t.  So our letter to the council, GoBike Consultations Broomhill One Way 21 Dec 2017 about this plan, broomhill one way tro plan TRO201701501 confirms that we are happy with their proposal, provided that they maintain two-way cycling!  Let’s hope that we are lucky with this one. Continue reading “Consultations: new and forthcoming in Glasgow, with even more speed cushions proposed for Santa’s sack”

Councillor Tour 10, Govan, Ward 5 with Councillor Allan Young (Green Party), 11 November 2017

On Saturday 11th November 2017, GoBike members Bob Downie and Andy Winter, and Rumina Kakati (who leads rides enjoyed by new, nervous and lapsed cyclists) met with Allan Young, the Green councillor for Govan ward, to go on a tour of some of the cycle facilities in the ward. Committee member Brenda Lillicrap organised the ride but was prevented from doing all but the start of the tour by a puncture.  We were delighted that Allan was available to come out with us and hope that the other three ward councillors will be able to come for a similar tour in future. The invitation remains open . Our route took us out and back from Cessnock subway station, past Bell’s Bridge, the Science Centre, Queen Elizabeth University Hospital and Govan centre, all the while critiquing the cycle facilities we saw and used, good and bad.

Our start was in Walmer Crescent, a short one-way street with slow traffic, no junctions, and a sharp corner at both ends – ideal for the council’s declared default of permitting contraflow cycling on one-way streets. Not yet though.

Picture 1, shown above: Start – Govan Ward 5 Tour 11/11/17, Rumina Kakati, Allan Young, Andy Winter and Bob Downie at Cessnock Station

Picture 2Map Route taken on Govan Ward 5 tour 11/11/17. Numbered points refer to photograph locations below

Our route initially took us north on the signed Cycle Route 7 along Cessnock Street, Brand Street – now with perpendicular parking for the new flats along the south side, a potential hazard for cyclists on this well-used route – and Govan Road. We able to see the ‘improvements’ being made connected with Fastlink. We wondered about the value of spending money on a grade-separated cycleway alongside a road where the only permitted traffic is buses and taxis – and there aren’t any bus routes. There are much stronger candidate areas for cycle infrastructure spending even when the funding is ring-fenced for work connected with Fastlink.

Our first major hurdle was where Govan Road joins Pacific Drive. At these traffic lights, cyclists are invited to behave like pedestrians and cross Pacific Drive to cycle westward on the north-side pavement. To cross, cyclists must wait for 3 individual sets of pedestrian controlled lights, the first to cross the two lanes of the Fastlink bus corridor (not available for cycle use), followed by lights for each lane of ordinary traffic. The presence of extensive pedestrian barriers makes crossing by more than 2-3 bikes at a time very difficult. The experienced cyclists will almost certainly ignore the invitation to use this crossing and travel westward on the road. Those new to cycling (or with tandems, trailers or cargo bikes) are discouraged by tight turns made more difficult by poles, railings and control boxes, especially when there are pedestrians or other cyclists to consider.

While manoeuvring the crossing we agreed that plans to designate the footway on the south side for shared use (right through the bus shelter, and next to the sparsely used Fastlink carriageway) were a frustratingly marginal improvement, and we wondered why no effort had been made to route cyclists behind the Village Hotel to get toward’s Bells Bridge. There is already a crossing across Pacific Drive opposite the Bell’s Bridge path, albeit one offset from the desire line and with yet more barrier/pole/box obstacles.

Picture 3CrossToPavement We were invited to behave as pedestrians and use the pavement on the north side of Pacific Drive (point 1 on map)

It was generally agreed that the new path from Pacific Drive to Bell’s Bridge then continuing along the river in front of the BBC and the Science Centre was excellent. We wished it were possible for the riverside path to extend eastwards under the Clyde Arc Bridge. Back at Govan Road we continued westward and on to Golspie Street, which was re-engineered to accommodate the Fastlink carriageway. This gives it the appearance of a fast dual-carriageway, by-pass type of road, with its absence of active frontages and sweeping turns at the junctions. With the two directions of normal traffic using the single non-Fastlink carriageway it feels like a hostile piece of road for cyclists. This section is difficult to avoid for east-west travel because of the barrier of the lines into the subway depot. The layout of the both junctions on this stretch encourages drivers to make fast left turns, with the potential for left-hooking cyclists. The extensive pedestrian barriers at the junction with Harmony Row hem cyclists in in a manner that is worrying. There is nowhere for cyclists to escape if cars come too near.

Picture 4Barriers Extensive barriers at the junction of Golspie Street and Harmony Row (point 2 on map)

A newish, good quality pedestrian-cycle route took us the 200m from Golspie Street to Langlands Road. This was free of motor traffic and wide enough for cyclists and pedestrian to easily pass in both directions. A useful improvement would be a dropped kerb at the eastern end to allow easy access for west-bound cyclists without having to mingle with pedestrians at the pelican crossing.

Picture 5SharedPath Using the Golspie Street to Langlands Road cycle/pedestrian route (point 3 on map)

On Langlands Road significant sections of the advisory cycle lanes, only denoted by painted lines, were blocked by parked cars on both sides of the road. We understand these painted lanes form part of the ‘active travel access’ for the newly enlarged hospital. Allowing parking in cycle lanes shows that cyclists lack any real status on Glasgow’s roads. Cycle users deserve better.

Picture 6CarsInBikeLane Cars parked in the Langlands Road cycle lane (point 4 on map)

We carried on along Langlands Road to the underpass beneath the A739, the busy dual carriageway leading to the Clyde Tunnel. This underpass gives cycle access to the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital, but the large amount of graffiti and general feel of dilapidation gives it an edgy feel. This is not a facility most people would like to use at night.

Picture 7Graffiti Pedestrian/cycle underpass beneath the A739 to the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital. A highly graffitied and unwelcoming place (point 5 on map)

The feeling of dilapidation continued on the west side of the A739 where the first entrance to the hospital had no dropped kerb as well as being very rough, and needing another tight turn to negotiate the bollards in the underpass entrance.

Picture 8HospEntrance Off-putting entrance to the QEUH. Note the lack of dropped kerb (point 6 on map)

We continued north beside the A739 on an excellent shared pedestrian/cycle path which continued along Moss Road. At the junction with Peninver Drive a new pedestrian/cycle crossing has been installed but the timing of the lights was so slow (about 3 minutes) that no one was inclined to wait and we all took the chance to cross when the traffic appeared clear. The timing of these lights needs to be reviewed.

Picture 9LongWait Very slow timing of the lights allowing cycle crossing from Moss Road to Peninver Drive (point 7 on map)

Onward to Govan Road where we noted that parking was allowed by the shops near the junction with Holmfauldhead Place. We were told that this parking can at times cause significant congestion leading to cyclists being squeezed on the road, with drivers overtaking without allowing sufficient space.

Picture 95ParkingSqueeze Govan Road near the junction with Holmfauldhead Place. A busy road restricted by allowing on-street parking. Cyclists get squeezed here (point 8 on map)

A major problem in this area is the difficulty that south-going cyclists have turning west along Govan Road when they exit the Clyde Cycle Tunnel. To cross Govan Road “by the book” is so slow and complex that few cyclists comply and simply cross Govan Road when and where they can. The lack of a simple and safe crossing is simply unacceptable.

Our tour concluded with a ride through the centre of Govan and discussion as to how a dedicated cycle route through the main street of Govan Road could be a significant feature as part of the area regeneration.

Overall we were underwhelmed by the cycle facilities that we saw and used in Govan. Short sections were excellent but on the whole we felt that most were let down by poor design and poor implementation. The biggest issues are the lack of interconnectivity between adequate facilities and the method the planners use to take cyclists across main roads by requiring cyclists to behave like pedestrians and use complex, slow, barriered crossings. These are tricky for inexperienced cyclists to manoeuvre through, and experienced cyclists are likely to ignore the lights and cross as and when they see a gap in the traffic. The perennial problem of cars parking in non-segregated cycle lanes remains an issue in Govan as almost everywhere else in the UK.

We hope that Councillor Allan Young will be able to use the information gained in this tour to inform him in his work as a councillor and as ever, GoBike are here to help should he (or any of the other three Govan councillors) have any further questions.

We have one more tour planned for Friday 01 December with Councillors Cullen and Cunningham around Ward 13, Garscadden/Scotstounhill.  Then, unless we can choose daylight during the winter, we’ll be hoping to resume in the spring – if councillors are minded to join us!

Candleriggs Glasgow, hotel to be built and new contraflow cycle lane!

 

The old Goldberg site on Candleriggs, from Wilson Street down to the Trongate is being redeveloped and road access is being changed to facilitate access to the hotel being built there.  The good news for active travel is that there will be no through motor access from Bell Street to Wilson Street (the junction at the foot of the photo) and there will be a contraflow cycle lane on the south part of Candleriggs, to allow two-way cycling here.

GoBike’s letter of support, but with some related questions, is here: GoBike Candleriggs Traffic Mgt support 111117 and the City Council’s explanation of what is proposed is here: CCTRO Variation20 Candleriggs Report Feb2017 with this plan: P5056_06_02B_Candleriggs TRO

Full details of Glasgow City Council’s proposals may be seen here

Comments don’t close until 08 December, so there is plenty of time to get your views in!