Tag: glasgow

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Glasgow Councillors tour their wards with us, Tour 1 Maryhill and Hillhead

Further to our letter to all Glasgow Councillors in June, our first tour took place on Friday 15 September 2017, with Councillors Jane Morgan, Maryhill ward, Labour (in yellow above) and Martha Wardrop, Hillhead ward, Green (behind GoBike committee member, Alasdair Macdonald).  The photo above was taken on Striven Gardens, where leaf-fall and parked cars, plus mis-placed bollards further along can impede good cycle access.

We were able to discuss many items on the tour, such as cars parked in bike lanes, the need for dropped kerbs to facilitate access for bikes, as well as prams etc, plus the need for good cycle infrastructure on Maryhill Road.  Details of the tour, as well as the map of the route are shown here .  It was an excellent way to get our message across to two councillors and we look forward to meeting other councillors over the forthcoming weeks.

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Today is #GlasgowCycleInfraDay17

#GlasgowCycleInfraDay17
It’s Friday!

It’s September 8th!!

It’s #GlasgowCycleInfraDay17!!!

 

Yes, the day has finally arrived for us to take to the streets of Glasgow and show the world exactly what our cycling infrastructure is like.  Some of it will be good, some of it will be bad, and we need to see it all so we can show it to the Council and help to make ours a true Cycling City.

Keep your camera with you today and when you spot any cycling infrastructure that you want to highlight (good or bad) – or if you spot somewhere that’s crying out for infrastructure it doesn’t have yet – take a picture and Tweet it with the hashtag #GlasgowCycleInfraDay17.  Don’t worry if you don’t have Twitter, you can still take part by emailing your pictures to us at CycleInfraDay@gmail.com.

You’ll be able to watch the gallery build throughout the day by keeping an eye on the hashtag on Twitter (you don’t need an account for this – just click this link), or by following the Twitter account (@CycleInfraDay).

Remember, this is supposed to be an easy way of documenting a day in the life of Glasgow’s cycling infrastructure.  So please be sensible; don’t go dashing across busy roads to get an ‘action shot’, or exploring the collapsed section of the cycle lane along the Clyde to show the damage after the weir jammed last week.

Most importantly… have fun!

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#GlasgowCycleInfraDay17 is coming tomorrow!!

Just one more sleep until the return of #GlasgowCycleInfraDay17 to our city!

#GlasgowCycleInfraDay17

With the Scottish Government this week announcing their commitment to double the budget for Active Travel in 2018/19, making sure your voice is heard when that money gets spent has never been more important.  Tomorrow you can shout it out loud.

It’s as easy as snapping a photograph of Glasgow’s cycling infrastructure and posting it on Twitter with the hashtag #GlasgowCycleInfraDay17.

Take pictures of the good stuff, what we want more of, as well as the not so good stuff.

Don’t worry if you don’t have a Twitter account; just email your pictures to us at CycleInfraDay@gmail.com and we’ll upload them for you.

So, get your cameras ready, charge your batteries and load up your memory cards… for tomorrow we shape the future of cycling in Glasgow!

 

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Cycling Embassy of Great Britain comes to Glasgow, 16-17 September

Our friends in the Cycling Embassy of Great Britain are holding their AGM in Glasgow this year, see: https://www.cycling-embassy.org.uk/news/2017/07/20/save-the-date-embassy-agm-in-glasgow-16th-17th-september

The weekend is full of cycling safaris developed by our very own Andy Preece as well as lots of cycling discussion and activity plus a get-together for food and drink.

The event is being held at the Whisky Bond, co-locating with Cyclehack which starts on Friday evening.

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#GlasgowCycleInfraDay17 needs you!

#GlasgowCycleInfraDay17 Needs You!

The first GlasgowCycleInfraDay, back in 2015, was the brainchild of Magnatom (a.k.a. David).  Shocked at the state of Glasgow’s cycle lanes he put the call out on his blog one Tuesday night.  With a little over 24-hours notice, the response from across Glasgow (and beyond) was phenomenal.

This year’s campaign, #GlasgowCycleInfraDay17,  is nearly here.  Next Friday, September 8th, it will be time once again to fill Twitter with the best and the worst of Glasgow’s cycling infrastructure.

https://twitter.com/JoeSoap76/status/563326513039548416

Taking part on the day will be easy.  All you need is the desire to make Glasgow a better city for cycling… and a camera.  You don’t need a fancy camera, the one in your phone will do the job.  Just take a picture of any cycling infrastructure you see on Friday that you think is worth recording (or a place where you think it’s needed) and Tweet it with where you took it and the hashtag #GlasgowCyclieInfraDay17.  Don’t have a Twitter account?  No problem, just email it to CycleInfraDay@gmail.com and we’ll Tweet it for you.

It couldn’t be easier to help shape the future of cycling in Glasgow for everybody.

But we need your help before then too.

The more people who take part, the better the picture of Glasgow’s infrastructure we’ll end up with and the harder it will be to ignore us.  So please, spread the word.  Tell your friends.  Tweet about it.  Every single photograph is important so shout it from the rooftops: #GlasgowCycleInfra17 is coming! Get involved!!

 

 

 

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The nights are drawing in but lots to do as September approaches

Yes, the nights are drawing in so it’s time to check out those lights for your bike, but don’t forget all the things that are on from now through into September.  We have told you about some of them and there is detail to follow on others, but here’s a summary – get them in your diary and get out to them on your bike: Continue reading “The nights are drawing in but lots to do as September approaches”

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Glasgow’s South City Way – further Public Consultation, 29 August

We have been sent the following e-mail.  Please attend the event if you can and respond to the consultation to ensure that we get a good quality Queens Park to City Centre cycle route.  We understand that there is some opposition to the route continuing directly down Gorbals Street from The Citizens Theatre and the developers of the land opposite the Citz.  The Theatre seems happy to have buses and trucks rumbling past but does not want bikes gliding along in front of their building, while the developers apparently want to extend their ground and have private parking for the new housing on Gorbals Street!  The very opposite of active travel!

“From: “Maclean, Allan (LES)” <Allan.Maclean@glasgow.gov.uk>
Date: 18 August 2017 at 12:05:54 BST
To: undisclosed-recipients:;
Subject: FW: SOUTH CITY WAY – PUBLIC CONSULTATION (29 August 2017)
To: Strategic Plan for Cycling transport sub-group members

SOUTH CITY WAY (Queen Park Station to Cumberland Street section)

As you may be aware, South City Way is a proposed active travel corridor between Queen’s Park and the City Centre. South City Way was the winning project in last year’s Community Links Plus funding competition organised by Sustrans and the Scottish Government. The Council attracted £3.25m of external funding towards the scheme, with the Council also contributing £3.25m. Details of the project can be found by visiting www.glasgow.gov.uk/scw.

Two public consultation events were held during the bid stages of the competition concerning concepts for the route. Since the winner’s announcement last summer, the Council has been progressing preliminary design work for the route and designs for the Queen’s Park and Queen’s Park Station section were published last May at a public event on Victoria Road. It is now intended to publish design proposals for the next section, from Queen’s Park Railway Station to the Cumberland Street junction. Once again, a public event is planned and anyone can drop-in to speak to Council Officers, design engineers and representatives from our funding partner Sustrans. The design proposals will also be available on line at the above webpage, following the event.

Details of the drop-in event are as follows:

DATE/ TIME:         Tuesday 29th August 2017 from 3pm to 7pm

 VENUE:                  Govanhill Housing Association, Samaritan House,

       79 Coplaw Street,       Glasgow       G42 7JG

 Further consultation events will be held in the future, as the plans for new sections of the route develop.

If you require any further information, or cannot make the event and wish to send us your comments, please contact us via email at sustainabletransport@glasgow.gov.uk or by phoning 0141 287 9171.

Allan Maclean, Project Officer

Technical Services, Land & Environmental Services

Glasgow City Council, 231 George Street

GLASGOW G1 1RX, Phone 0141 287 9038

allan.maclean@glasgow.gov.uk

www.glasgow.gov.uk

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GoBike meets Glasgow’s new City Convener for Sustainability and Carbon Reduction!

On 09 August Bob Downie and Tricia Fort met with Councillor Anna Richardson, Glasgow City Council’s Convenor for Sustainability and Carbon Reduction.  Anna, who wrote the active travel section of the SNP’s manifesto for Glasgow, now aims to ensure that it is enacted, see: https://snpforglasgow.scot/manifesto/transport/  Do please read this and help GoBike hold our new-ish council to their word.

She is not only keen to resurrect the city’s Cycling Forum, which has not met since August 2016 and for which no minutes have been issued, but to ensure that it operates with a business-like focus, to pave the way for genuine improvements in cycling.  We discussed the need for good infrastructure and while she recognises that bus lanes are appropriate routes to cycle for some people, they are no substitute for segregated infrastructure that people of all ages and abilities will be confident to cycle on.  We hope we persuaded her that, in the interests of economy and minimising drainage issues, that armadillos, or similar, may in places be a quick and efficient way to provide segregated infrastructure.

We look forward to working with the new council, but we won’t shirk from holding them to account.

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Calling all women – Women’s Cycle Forum AGM, Glasgow, Saturday 19 August, 4-6pm

Yes, the Women’s Cycle Forum Scotland is holding its AGM at the Women’s Library in Landressy Street, Bridgeton on Saturday 19 August from 4pm – 6pm, and men are welcome too, as well as all you women out there, who cycle or wish to cycle.

See the link above for details, and do please register if you are going, but there are 3 great speakers lined up:

  • Daisy Narayanan, Deputy Director for Built Environment at Sustrans Scotland.
  • Anna Richardson, City Convenor for Sustainability and Carbon Reduction, Glasgow, and
  • Alex Feechan, founder of Findra Clothing.
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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.