A few consultations in Paisley and Renfrewshire in this issue. Glasgow consult about sustainability and North Lanarkshire about building a new trunk road. A lightshow launches the latest landmark on the Forth & Clyde canal. 

Featured image: Rosser1954, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

1: Current Consultations

1. #YouDecide Renfrewshire
2. Erskine junction safety
3. Sustainable Procurement Strategy 2023 – 2027: Phase 2
4. East Airdrie Link Road – Stage 2

2: Consultation Feedback

1. Stockingfield Bridge official opening

3: Proposed Traffic Calming/Traffic Regulation Orders

1. East Dunbartonhire TROs
2. Glasgow City Traffic Calming/TROs
3. North Lanarkshire TROs
4. Renfrewshire Traffic Calming

1: Current Consultations
(in date order for responses)

1.1: #YouDecide Renfrewshire

Council: Renfrewshire.
Subject: Giving local people some say over how the Council should spend its budget. Renfrewshire have allocated £1.2million for local infrastructure projects – with up to £50,000 available for each idea put forward by residents. Over 2,800 suggestions were submitted, including improvements to roads, footpaths, lighting, road safety. A shortlist of 115 feasible projects is being put to the vote; by area. You have to enter a PA postcode to see the ideas in that area, and then choose projects in order of preference. There are more cosmetic than radical suggestions but it’s still an opportunity for local people.
Deadline: 11 December 2022.

1.2: Erskine junction safety

Council: Renfrewshire.
Area: Main roads junctions in south and east Erskine.
Subject: Three junctions on Old Greenock Rd (at Linburn Rd, Craigends Drive and Barhill Rd). Also, the junction of Kilpatrick Drive and the A726. None of the junctions look cycling friendly. All the more reason to ask for protected bike lanes as part of any redesign.
Website links: Erskine junctions surveys.
Deadline: 18 December 2022.

1.3: Sustainable Procurement Strategy 2023 – 2027: Phase 2

Council: Glasgow City.
Subject: Strategy about how GCC will buy goods and services – not strictly cycling-related but could have an impact on future infrastructure projects. Most of the survey asks if you agree/disagree with their goals but there’s a space for general comments on page 12.
Website links: Sustainable Procurement Strategy survey.
Deadline: 6 January 2023.

1.4: East Airdrie Link Road – Stage 2

Council: North Lanarkshire.
Subject: Further consultation on Stage 2 of this proposed trunk road (previously the Airdrie Bypass). It’s a City Deal project as part of the Pan-Lanarkshire Orbital Transport Corridor (joining the M80, M8 and M74 via Ravenscraig/Motherwell). The council have chosen a route option for EALR and are showing their working. You get to comment on it but many of the decisions have already been taken. That includes the active travel provision – a shared pavement. The road is linked to the replacement Monklands Hospital, due to be built at Wester Moffat (but a recent funding delay will push back opening until at least 2031).
Featured: Digest 88, Item 1.6.
Website links: Stage 2 options.
Deadline: 23 January 2023.

2: Consultation Feedback

2.1: Stockingfield Bridge official opening

Council: Glasgow City.
Area: North Glasgow – Maryhill, Gilsochill and Ruchill.
Subject: Not strictly linked to a consultation but the bridge and its opening event have had a lot of positive feedback. It spans a t-junction in the Forth & Clyde canal to save going down through the narrow road tunnel on Lochburn Rd. The towpath closed in Spring 2021 until Autumn 2022. The new bridge has been in use for a few months (including on a recent GoBike ride). However, the official opening took place on Saturday 3 December with a light show and a great turnout by locals.

3: Proposed Traffic Regulation Orders

3.1: East Dunbartonhire TROs

Areas: Bishopbriggs, Kirkintilloch, Lennoxtown, Lenzie, Milngavie, Milton of Campsie, Torrance and Twechar.
Subject: Orders about parking restrictions on Main St, Kirkintilloch and Electric Vehicle charging spaces in various towns and villages.
Website links: East Dunbartonshire TROs (at foot of Roadworks page).

3.2: Glasgow City Traffic Calming/TROs

Areas: City-wide.
Subject: TROs:
Royston Road – another Spaces for People route, which links Royston and Blackhill (including the proposed new prison site). Deadline: 14 December 2022.
London Rd – East City Way phases 6 & 7, past the velodrome (as seen in Digest 113, Item 1.4). Hopefully in time for the UCI Cycling World Championships in August 2023. Deadline: 16 December 2022.
Traffic Calming: Linkwood Dr, Drumchapel; Wardie Rd, Easterhouse. 
Website links: Glasgow City Proposed TROs, Glasgow City Proposed Traffic Calming Schemes.

3.3: North Lanarkshire TROs

Areas: Throughout North Lanarkshire.
Subject: Order to introduce timed or total parking restrictions on streets in over a dozen towns and villages.
Deadline: 14 December 2022.
Website links: North Lanarkshire Live Consultations (also links to Boundary Commission Scotland review of UK Parliament constituencies).

3.4: Renfrewshire Traffic Calming

Areas: Kilbarchan, Houston, Howwood and Kilbarchan Road, Bridge of Weir.
Subject: “We are looking for feedback on the potential traffic calming measures prior to a final report being prepared.” Also, there is a consultation on guardrails at a junction in Howwood.
Website links: Renfrewshire village traffic calming proposals and Bowfield Road/Midton Road junction, Howwood.

This Digest comes after Great Britain & Northern Ireland won a handful of cycling medals at Toyko 2020. One was for mountain biking while the rest were in BMX (where Sir Chris Hoy started). Both are covered by the Velo Park proposal from North Lanarkshire Council (but NLC have dropped the cycleway to Motherwell train station). There are also several consultations for East Dunbartonshire and Glasgow plus one for East Renfrewshire.

The ban on pavement parking was made law in the Scottish Parliament in 2019. Last year, GoBike wondered when it would come into force (Digest 65, Item 3.4) – it seems it’s due to be 2023. Living Streets want you to write to your MSPs about bringing it forward.

People of all abilities can cycle at facilities run by Freewheel North – who are trying to fundraise just now, in case you want to contribute.

Infrastructure Update

• Sighthill’s new pedestrian/cycle bridge has been installed over the M8 (but won’t be open for a while yet). GoBike convenor, Thomas, spoke about it on STV!
• At the canal, the Claypits nature reserve officially opened at the weekend, including the zigzag ramp from Garscube Rd.
• The Stockingfield Bridge at the canal is being assembled but won’t be up and running until next year.
• North Canal Bank St – work is getting there but it missed its July re-opening date.
• At Kelvin Hall, Argyle St/Bunhouse Rd has bike lights installed, but not yet operational.
• Thomas visited Corkerhill Rd’s soft segregated lanes.
• He also let us know South City Way’s new cycle counters are up-and-running.
• Outdoor seating in the sun was popular along Sauchiehall St’s permanent lanes and the pop-ups at Candleriggs/George Square and Cambridge St.
• In East Kilbride, University Hospital Hairmyres has a new path into south of site (from Strathtay Ave).

Contents
(new consultations in bold – link jumps to article)

Section 1: Current Consultations

1. Glasgow City Council – City Centre Traffic Management Order 2010: Variation No.29, GHA Parking Areas (ends 3 Aug – today!)
2. St. Paul’s Youth Forum – Flourishing Molendinar second consultation (ends 6 Aug)
3. Glasgow City Council – Garnethill Traffic Management and Parking Controls Order (ends 13 Aug)
4. East Dunbartonshire Council – Bishopbriggs Town Centre Regeneration (ends 15 Aug)
5. East Dunbartonshire Council – Schools waiting and loading orders (ends 16 Aug)
6. East Dunbartonshire Council – Lenzie Rd, Kirkintilloch waiting and loading order (ends 16 Aug)
7. East Dunbartonshire Council – Civic Way/Lenzie Rd, traffic management (ends 16 Aug)
8. Glasgow City Council – Auldhouse Area Traffic Management Order (ends 20 Aug)
9. North Lanarkshire Council – Bellshill Entrance/Velo Park Project (until end of Aug)
10. East Renfrewshire Council – Ayr Road (A77): Spaces for People, Phase 2
11. Glasgow City Council – Low Emission Zone consultation (ends 2 Sep)
12. Glasgow City Council – Inner East Strategic Development Framework (ends 3 Sep)
13. East Dunbartonshire Council – Active Travel Discussion (ends 28 Sep)
14. Glasgow Urban Sports – GUSM74 Urban Sports Sculpture Park

Section 2: Forthcoming Consultations

None this time.

Section 3: Consultation Feedback

1. North Lanarkshire Council – Planning Application (20/00345/FUL) Access to Motherwell train station

Section 1: Current Consultations
(in date order for responses)

1.1: Glasgow City Council – City Centre Traffic Management Order 2010: Variation No.29, GHA Parking Areas

Glasgow Housing Association’s parking areas are in Townhead, east of Buchanan Bus Station, behind the high flats. Resident’s parking spaces around Kennedy St and St Mungo Avenue have been used as free parking by shoppers/commuters. This order introduces parking restrictions (as covered in Digest 91, Item 1.1).

GoBike agreed with these measures in our Stage 1 GHA response and latest GHA response.

There are the usual documents for a TRO: plan of GHA parking areas, GHA areas draft report, GHA areas press notice and the usual statement of reasons. Respond by e-mail to lestraffic@glasgow.gov.uk  by 3 August 2021.

1.2: St. Paul’s Youth Forum – Flourishing Molendinar second consultation

The Flourishing Molendinar project covers an area around Blackhill in the north east of Glasgow. As seen in Digest 91, Item 1.2, the next stage of the Flourishing Molendinar project has produced new plans for consultation. Proposals include a pedestrianised section on Langdale St, segregated cycleways on Cumbernauld Rd and Royston Rd.

Permanent segregated lanes on Royston Rd would continue east of Provanmill Rd, where the current pop-up lanes peter out, past the Langdale St/Robroyston Rd junction. This wouldn’t just connect Blackhill towards the city centre, it’s also just across the M80 footbridge from Barmulloch. The junction is also a route to a school, St Philomena’s RC Primary School, where pupils have been doing their own plans in Minecraft software.

For more on the above, see the FloMo survey (ends 6 August).

1.3: Glasgow City Council – Garnethill Traffic Management and Parking Controls Order

Garnethill is perched above Sauchiehall St and Cambridge St, up some of the steepest streets in the city centre. As we said in Digest 91, Item 1.3, it’s due to get parking controls, which stem from a consultation event in 2018.

Garnethill also has a lot of existing one way streets, which don’t allow for contraflow cycling. In our Garnethill Stage 1 response, GoBike objected to this and other measures. Very little had changed since, apart from a few parking spaces, so we re-iterated our objections in our response to the published Garnethill order.

See the restrictions in the TRO documents: Garnethill plan, Garnethill draft report, Garnethill press notice and the standard Statement of Reasons. Email: garnethillparking@glasgow.gov.uk by 13 August.

1.4: East Dunbartonshire Council – Bishopbriggs Town Centre Regeneration

This consultation is about not just Bishopbriggs town centre, but also phase 5 of Bishopbriggs Relief Road (BRR5) and the A803 corridor. Cycling doesn’t get much of a mention, as we said in Digest 91, Item 1.4. That’s despite Bishopbriggs being so close to the Forth & Clyde canal and to Glasgow (where the A803 changes from Kirkintilloch Rd to Springburn Rd). If you want to put a word in for cycling, see the Bishopbriggs consultation webpage and Bishopbriggs Public Realm Plan survey by 15 August.

1.5: East Dunbartonshire Council – Schools waiting and loading orders

A series of orders from East Dunbartonshire bring in parking restrictions around the following nine primary schools:

• Clober Primary School, Milngavie
• Westerton Primary School, Bearsden
• Meadowburn Primary School, Bishopbriggs
• St Matthew’s Primary School, Bishopbriggs
• Wester Cleddens Primary School, Bishopbriggs
• Gartconner Primary School, Kirkintilloch
• Holy Family Primary School, Kirkintilloch
• Craighead Primary School, Milton of Campsie
• Torrance Primary School, Torrance

All include ‘no waiting’ restrictions between 8.30 – 9.30am and 2.30 – 4.30pm. The Clober, Westerton, Craighead and Torrance school plans have sections with no waiting at any time (mostly on corners/school entry roads).

See the plans and other PDF documents for details: Bearsden/Milngavie schools plans, Bearsden/Milngavie schools order, ‘west’ schools Schedules & Statement of reasons, Bearsden/Milngavie schools notice, Bishopbriggs/Kirkintilloch/Milton of Campsie/Torrance schools plans, ‘east’ schools order, ‘east’ schools Schedules & Statement of reasons, ‘east’ schools notice, Bishopbriggs consolidated order and Milton of Campsie consolidated order.

Send any comments to the Chief Solicitor & Monitoring Officer by post or email by 16 August.

1.6: East Dunbartonshire Council – Linnhe Ave/Thums Ave/Ochil Rd waiting and loading order

Immediately east of the above map are Linnhe Ave, Thums Ave and the Ochil Rd cul-de-sac (near Wester Cleddens Rd). Linnhe Ave is due to have no waiting or loading at any time, across from the shops on Woodhill Rd. Thums Ave and Ochil Rd are due to have restrictions only between 8.30 – 9.30am and 2.30 – 4.30pm. Presumably, the times relate to the nearby Thomas Muir Primary School and Bishopbriggs Academy, which have a gate on Ochil Rd.

See the PDF documents: Linnhe Ave/Thums Ave/Ochil Rd plan, Linnhe Ave/Thums Ave/Ochil Rd order and Linnhe Ave/Thums Ave/Ochil Rd notice. Send any comments to the Chief Solicitor & Monitoring Officer by post or email by 16 August.

1.7: East Dunbartonshire Council – Civic Way/Lenzie Rd, traffic management

Civic Way, Kirkintinlloch was the site of the former East Dunbartonshire Council headquarters (the building was demolished in 2015). New, affordable housing is being built on the site, south of Civic Way. On the road itself, EDC plan to add a speed bump with parking restrictions round the corner on Lenzie Rd.

See the PDF documents: Lenzie Rd plan, Lenzie Rd order, Lenzie Rd notice, Civic Way notice, Kirkintilloch consolidated order. Send any comments to the Chief Solicitor & Monitoring Officer by post or email by 16 August.

1.8: Glasgow City Council – Auldhouse Area Traffic Management Order

The Auldhouse area in this order is just south of Pollokshaws East train station and the White Cart Water. It’s a triangle bounded by Kilmarnock Rd, Auldhouse Rd and Nether Auldhouse Rd.

It’s mostly along similar lines to other parking controls elsewhere. However, there are a few back lanes between Riverford Rd and Ellisland Rd which will be signed as ‘access only’ for motor vehicles. If those are followed, they should allow bikes to have a slightly quieter north-south route. However, the road surfaces are either rough tarmac or cobbles so they might not be that quiet!

See the PDF documents: Auldhouse plan, Auldhouse report, Auldhouse notice and the catch-all Statement of Reasons.

1.9: North Lanarkshire Council – Bellshill Entrance/Velo Park Project

The ‘entrance’ is a bit confusing as most people don’t realise Strathclyde Country Park goes past Bothwellhaugh Rd and the railway, up to Bellshill Rd (A721). The area north of the loch includes the South Calder Water, Bothwellhaugh Cemetery, Bellshill Golf Club and the South Calder Walkway off-road path network. NLC propose to thread mountain bike trails around these, as shown in image, below.

NLC have a patchy record with similar projects like mountain bike trails in Forgewood and skate ramps in Motherwell and Wishaw. However, there is a successful skatepark in Airdrie and a BMX race track in Cumbernauld. The council have taken some input from Socialtrack, who created and run the excellent Wishawhill Wood pump track in Craigneuk. These plans include a pump track but it’s not designed yet (there’s just an example track photo).

The ‘Hub/Skills area’ of the new velo park would be at the edge of Bellshill (next to the roundabout on Motherwell Rd/A721). It could be a great facility for young people around the Bellshill area. The existing Greenlink path makes it more accessible from North Motherwell too (but it doesn’t link to Ravenscraig, as claimed).

The new route into Strathclyde Country Park should broaden active travel access from Bellshill and Motherwell. This project doesn’t include any paths near the Raith Interchange bridges (as suggested on Facebook). The new routes are indirect and sloping, so are less likely to help cycle commuters around Bellshill.

If you cycle in the area, see the Bellshill Entrance & Velo Park info page. You can email comments to GreenspaceProjects@northlan.gov.uk. The page says the process should lead to a Sport Scotland application this month so email before the end of August.

1.10: East Renfrewshire Council – Ayr Road (A77): Spaces for People, Phase 2

As covered in Digest 91, Item 1.5, Ayr Rd through Newton Mearns is a main active travel route into Glasgow. This phase 2 consultation is about replacing the phase 1 cones with light segregation, removing some segregation and adding parking bays (one with the bike lane outside it and trialing a parking-protected bike lane for the other).

Light segregation options include ‘flexible delineator posts’ or ‘wand orca’ units. For examples, maps and more details, see the Ayr Road Phase 2 Commonplace page. No obvious deadline on this one.

1.11: Glasgow City Council – Low Emission Zone consultation

As in Digest 90, Item 1.3 this consultation is about phase 2 of the Low Emission Zone in Glasgow city centre (between the M8, river and High St). Phase 1 only applied to local buses. Phase 2 will include all vehicles entering the zone area (unless exempt) but enforcement is only due to start in June 2023.

The short survey asks you about issues like the size of the LEZ area and the grace periods. See the Glasgow LEZ consultation page and LEZ online survey. Closes on 2 September 2021.

1.12: Glasgow City Council – Inner East Strategic Development Framework

The other side of High St out to Carntyne and Tollcross is the ‘Inner East’ area, covered in the latest SDF (as in Digest 90, Item 1.4). The ‘Connected’ section mentions quite a few cycling infrastructure projects but the focus is still on public transport and roads, including the so-called East End Regeneration Route (EERR) dual carriageway.

See the Inner East consultation page for link to the SDF survey – ends 3 September 2021.

1.13: East Dunbartonshire Council – Active Travel Discussion

This has been featured since Digest 86, Item 1.2, including its ‘Ideas Map‘ for the area. It’s an opportunity to focus on active travel (walking, cycling and wheeling). EDC were pioneers when they built phase 1 of the Bearsway cycletrack in Milngavie. However, since phase 2 was scrapped, they’ve fallen behind other local authorities; not even bidding for Spaces for People funding.

Further online discussion events are due later in August. See a full list of events and background info on the Active Travel Discussion webpage. Closing date – 28 Sep 2021.

1.14: Glasgow Urban Sports – GUSM74 Urban Sports Sculpture Park

Charlotte Worthington’s gold medal at Tokyo 2020 in the BMX Freestyle Park event seems like a good reminder about Glasgow Urban Sports‘ skate park project. GUS want to bring land under the M74 extension into productive use as a park for ‘urban sports’ – BMX, skateboarding, inline skating, parkour, etc. Their site is between the back of West St Subway station and Eglinton St. The sculptures would enhance the area even when they didn’t have skaters jumping off them!

See GUS’s survey to try and find out what skaters, or their families, want from the park. Or see the GUS Facebook or GUS Twitter accounts.

Section 2: Forthcoming Consultations

None this time.

Section 3: Consultation Feedback

3.1: North Lanarkshire Council – Planning Application (20/00345/FUL) Access to Motherwell train station

The planning application for this City Deal project first came up back in Digest 61, Item 1.1. It was to create a new access to the station from the roundabout at the junction of Hamilton Rd (A723), West Hamilton Rd (A721) and Merry St. Running along derelict land behind the row of shops on Muir St, it would join the current road at the station. It would include a bus lane, taxi rank, disabled parking and short cycleway.

However, the cycleway seems to have been dropped from the latest drawings (29 Jun 2021) –see planning application 20/00345/FUL. It would’ve been pretty short and isolated but would at least have helped cycle to the station from the south. Another example of NLC’s inconsistent approach – a few steps forward (like the RATL path) then a few steps back (like the RAI dual carriageway).

North Lanarkshire Council have now granted planning permission for this access road to go ahead. Redevelopment has already taken place at nearby Park & Ride car parks. Work is now underway on the station building (using the service road to get passengers down to the middle platforms while stairs are replaced). The Muir St works are expected to start late 2021 and finish summer 2022.

In this Digest there’s a mix of consultations from Glasgow and from all directions outside the city. Most are over before late March, which will mark six weeks until the Scottish Parliament election. This is the Public Sector’s ‘purdah’ pre-election period when projects tend to avoid new announcements (which could get caught up in electioneering).

That may be why there’s been a flurry of news about the next lot of Glasgow’s Spaces for People projects – including Howard St, Cambridge St and Royston Rd. GoBike first heard about these at the revived Glasgow Active Travel Forum, which met for the first time online earlier this month (previous meeting was Sept 2019!).

Ahead of the election in May, see the Cycling for everyone election petition by Cycling UK in Scotland (closes 26 March) and Pedal on Parliament’s ‘Light the Way’ campaign on 24 April.

If you’re in the city, see Andy’s three infrastructure routes around Glasgow to take in Spaces for People infrastructure. Andy has also started to inform GoBike about closures and diversions; if you hear of any please do let us know.

This Digest includes links in the Contents page so you can jump straight to a topic if you want to.

Contents
(new consultations in bold)

Section 1: Current Consultations

1. Renfrewshire Council – Inchinnan cycling and walking route – closes 17 March
2. North Lanarkshire Council – Town hub community engagement events – events 16–18 March
3. Scottish Canals – Stockingfield Junction art survey & public meeting – 18 March
4. Glasgow City Council – (Y)our Townhead Proposals Workshops – 18 March
5. Glasgow Harbour Ltd – Yorkhill Quay Phase 2 – closes Friday 19 March
6. North Lanarkshire Council – Consultations on traffic issues in Calderbank and Chapelhall – closes Sunday 21 March
7. East Dunbartonshire Council – Climate Conversation – online events 22 & 30 March/22 April
8. Flourishing Molendinar (North East Glasgow) – Public workshops 23–25 March
9. Glasgow Urban Sports – GUSM74 Urban Sports Sculpture Park survey

Section 2: Forthcoming Consultations

1. Glasgow City Council – (Y)our Cowcaddens, ‘Learning Quarter’ and Merchant City Proposals Workshops

Section 3: Consultation Feedback

1. Glasgow City Council – East City Way Phase 1 (London Drive to Daldowie Road) Order
2. Glasgow City Council – London Road/Hamilton Road (30mph Speed Limit) Order
3. Multiplex – Glasgow University Newsletter March 2021

Section 1: Current Consultations
(in date order for responses)

1.1: Renfrewshire Council – Inchinnan cycling and walking route

Greenock Rd (A8) runs between Inchinnan Business Park and Renfrew. This proposed route will be on the north side of the road, apparently starting as a shared path before becoming a segregated cycleway. It will pass McGills bus depot and a few scraps of current infrastructure before going south to Glasgow Airport. It will lead to the new pedestrian/cycle bridge over the Black Cart Water, one of the projects in Glasgow Airport Investment Area (GAIA), as mentioned in Digest 39, Item 3.3.

The new bridge sits on the southern side of the road (after enhancing its active travel credentials when it fell off a loader and crushed a white van!). Renfrewshire Council’s Inchinnan webpage says a toucan crossing will be installed near the bridge. However, it doesn’t say why the route has now switched to the northern side, especially as the Business Park is also south of the road. Perhaps to avoid the airport’s approach lights (or someone else’s land)? Or for future connections into Inchinnan itself? If you want to comment you’ll need to be quick – the Greenock Rd survey closes on Wednesday 17 March.

1.2: North Lanarkshire Council – Town hub community engagement events

These events first featured in Digest 81, 1.2. North Lanarkshire Council have “ambition to replace every school not replaced or remodelled since 1996, our vision is to make these places for the whole community rather than only the school community.“ So, that should include active travel.

Most of the events have already passed but it you get your skates on you can catch the last two for Wishaw and Shotts. The link for each town goes to an Eventbrite sign-up page to register for the event:

• Wishaw – Wednesday 17th March – 6:30pm
• Shotts – Thursday 18th March – 6:30pm

1.3: Scottish Canals – Stockingfield Junction art survey & public meeting

Details about the Stockingfield Junction public meeting on 18 March were in Digest 81, Item 1.5. Since then a survey about Stockingfield has opened asking what kind of artwork people want around the new bridge. There are different views about what form the bridge should have taken so there are sure to be plenty about what (if any) artworks should surround it. Many of us will probably pass through the area once it’s finished so we might as well chip in our 2p’s worth.

Scottish Canals want to hear what represents the local communities of Gilshochill, Maryhill and Ruchill (be kind!). Just don’t say The Big Man!

1.4: Glasgow City Council – (Y)our Townhead Proposals Workshops

Also on Thursday is the next lot of meetings about the District regeneration projects. GoBike received an email about Townhead:

“An Action Plan and Framework for the regeneration of Townhead is currently being prepared by a consultant team appointed by Glasgow City Council. We want your input to help shape and influence the priority projects to improve Townhead.”

There is a series of workshops throughout a ‘Co-Design Day’ on Thursday 18 March:

• Co-Design Day Launch (1000 – 1030)
• Getting Around – Workshops (1030 – 1230)
• City Centre Communities – Workshops (1300 – 1500)
• Reimagining (Y)our Townhead (1530 – 1730)

These suggest a much more collaborative approach than many of these events. Obviously, the most interesting one for us is the morning ‘Getting Around’ workshop:

“A participatory workshop considering how to make Townhead more accessible and better connected. Potential projects include:

• Connecting to ‘Townhead Island’
• Active Travel : walking, wheeling, cycling
• Junction 15 on M8
• Cathedral Street
• Stirling Road Triangle
• Canal to Cathedral : Dobbies Loan to St James Road
• …?”

Plenty to get our teeth into there. Alternatively, the Districts Commonplace map is still available if you want to see what suggestions have been made so far or add your own.

1.5: Glasgow Harbour Ltd – Yorkhill Quay Phase 2

This development first sprung up in Digest 73, Item 1.1. It’s now nearing the end of a pre-application period before actual plans are submitted to the council.

The Next Steps and Feedback page has a webform you can use to send comments. Or you can email: yorkhillquay@iceniprojects.com by Friday 19 March.

1.6: North Lanarkshire Council – Consultations on traffic issues in Calderbank and Chapelhall

North Lanarkshire Council is consulting about traffic in the villages of Calderbank and Chapelhall, between Airdrie and the M8 (as covered in Digest 81, Item 1.7). See the Chapelhall Traffic Study and Calderbank Traffic Study for a survey link at the end of each. If you know the areas you have until Sunday 21 March to respond.

1.7: East Dunbartonshire Council – Climate Conversation

As many of us know, East Dunbartonshire Council was the only mainland Scottish council not to bid for Spaces for People funding. However, they do seem to be trying to engage their residents about climate change. It almost seems timed as a response to a nearby city having some sort of globally important climate event (which isn’t mentioned).

Their Climate Conversation webpage says: “The Climate Conversation is the first stage in preparing an area-wide Climate Action Plan (CAP) for East Dunbartonshire… We are also commencing work during 2021 on new strategies that will support the objectives of the CAP: the Open Space Strategy; Circular Economy Strategy; and Active Travel Strategy.” The last one will obviously be of most interest to GoBike (but the other two are also welcome).

EDC have various surveys to fill in – one general, one for businesses and one for young people (all want an email address upfront). There are also Climate Conversation events, on 22 March, 30 March and 22 April. The events are all online (on MS Teams) so it’s likely to be more civil than previous public meetings where the police were called. Perhaps EDC will have their own version of Jackie Weaver to guide proceedings?

1.8: Flourishing Molendinar (formerly North East City Ways) – Public workshops

This initiative, started by On Bikes and St Paul’s Youth Forum, was first mentioned in a GoBike blog. Their original name, North East City Ways, may have been inspired by a certain city council. The new name, Flourishing Molendinar, comes from the stream that runs from Hogganfield Loch past Blackhill (mostly in a culvert) towards the city centre.

Along with the new name comes a change in focus from the wider area to Provanmill Rd and Langdale St. Both these streets had Spaces for People projects installed over the summer and showed potential for active travel routes. FloMo (it’s easier to spell!) are looking to build on that with public workshops on 22, 23 and 24 March. They still have their survey about getting around the North East of the city. Also, there’s the Streets for All Commonplace map (which On Bikes share with GoBike and Glasgow Eco Trust).

1.9: Glasgow Urban Sports – GUSM74 Urban Sports Sculpture Park survey

A different kind of active travel project but also driven by young (and not so young) people. First covered in Digest 81, Item 1.9, it’s for a skate park under the M74 extension near West St underground station. The GUSM74 survey is still open for skaters, or their families, to have their say about what they want to see in the park.

Section 2: Forthcoming Consultations

2.1: Glasgow City Council – (Y)our Cowcaddens, ‘Learning Quarter’ and Merchant City Proposals Workshops

The email for item 1.4 also said: “Townhead, alongside Cowcaddens, the Learning Quarter and the Merchant City, is the focus of the current phase of (Y)our City Centre District Regeneration Frameworks.” So, workshops for the other three will no doubt follow sometime soon.

Section 3: Consultation Feedback

3.1: Glasgow City Council – East City Way Phase 1 (London Drive to Daldowie Road) Order

Some swift feedback from the city council about Tricia’s points in the GoBike response to the ECW order. Let’s skip the ‘thank you’ and ‘COVID-19 happened’ bit and go to the following paragraph:

“The left turn from London Road to Hamilton Road has been banned for all traffic to allow the slip road to be closed and provide a large and safe pedestrian area for crossing. A segregate cycle route will be provided on the south side of London Road and Hamilton Road and will have signal controlled crossing facilities for pedestrians and cycles at Mount Vernon Junction which will link to all potential movements. This junction had no cycle or pedestrian facilities prior to these works. Cycle counts undertaken July 2017 recorded that 4 cycles per day made the left turn from London Road to Hamilton Road which included cyclists on the footway. A classified traffic count, counting all traffic categories, undertaken in October 2017 supported this.”

It’s not clear if the first part really is talking about the turn from London Rd eastbound to Hamilton Rd westbound, as Tricia asked. However, the count gives us an idea of how many people it might have affected in 2017. Will last summer’s surge in cycling numbers make a difference to that? And will the new junction attract all eastbound cyclists across the road to the 2-way lane? I guess we’ll find out in the near future.

3.2: Glasgow City Council – London Road/Hamilton Road (30mph Speed Limit) Order

GoBike also received a shorter response from GCC about Tricia’s GoBike response to the 30mph order. Not a lot of detail in this one – it thanks us for our support then basically says East City Way will be done in stages and the police enforce speed limits. It’s just as well we’ve got GCC officers to keep us right on these things.

3.3: Multiplex – Glasgow University campus newsletter

Having just missed our publication time for the last Digest I’m sure everyone will be delighted to see the latest Glasgow Uni campus newsletter this time. There are some nice pictures of large steel frames. However, it doesn’t include that University Place has closed to pedestrians and cycling for three months. Nor does it mention a change to the road layout on University Ave:

In this Digest there are consultations for a few parts of the Southside and traffic orders for a few City Ways. Also, surveys and events on traffic and town hubs in North Lanarkshire.

If you’re in the city, see Andy’s three infrastructure routes around Glasgow to take in Spaces for People infrastructure. Part of the Southern route includes the SfP ‘pop-up’ bike lane on Dumbreck Road, which was recently removed “by mistake” but then reinstated.

Andy has also started to inform GoBike about closures and diversions; if you hear of any please do let us know.

Looking further ahead towards spring, and an election, Pedal on Parliament have news about their events in April.

This Digest includes links in the Contents page so you can jump straight to a topic if you want to.

Contents
(new consultations in bold)

Section 1: Current Consultations

1. Glasgow City Council – St Andrews Drive (Sustainable Transport Route) Order – closes Sunday 7 March
2. North Lanarkshire Council – Town hub community engagement events – events from 8–18 March
3. Glasgow City Council – East City Way Phase 1 (London Drive to Daldowie Road) Order – closes Friday 12 March
4. Glasgow City Council – London Road/Hamilton Road (30mph Speed Limit) Order – closes Friday 12 March
5. Scottish Canals – Stockingfield public meeting – Thursday 18 March
6. Glasgow Harbour Ltd – Yorkhill Quay Phase 2 – closes Friday 19 March
7. North Lanarkshire Council – Consultations on traffic issues in Calderbank and Chapelhall – closes Sunday 21 March
8. Waverley Park Collective – Liveable Streets Waverley Park
9. Glasgow Urban Sports – GUSM74 Urban Sports Sculpture Park survey

Section 2: Forthcoming Consultations

None this time

Section 3: Consultation Feedback

1. Urban Roots – Malls Mire Newsletter February 2021
2. Sustrans – Glasgow Cycle Counters (revisited)

Section 1: Current Consultations
(in date order for responses)

1.1: Glasgow City Council – St Andrews Drive (Sustainable Transport Route) Order –Sunday 7 March

Digest 80 covered the St Andrews Drive TRO to extend the South West City Way. The order deals mainly with parking to clear the way for the route.

Further details about the route are still available on the original consultation website (from 2019/2020) including a ‘Storymap’ and links to PDFs of technical plans. The existing SWCW is 2-way (bi-directional), with both lanes on one side of the road. The extension will be too but using ‘cycle lane separators’ (a.k.a. zebras/orcas/armadillos) instead of kerbs.

A GoBike response to the SWCW extension plans was sent to Glasgow City Council in late January 2020. An updated GoBike response supports the order but notes that the other design issues haven’t been addressed.

There’s a consultation period for the TRO with a deadline of 7 March. Since it involves car parking, there are likely to be objections. Supportive emails may help to counter those. See the GCC website at www.glasgow.gov.uk/proposedtro.

1.2: North Lanarkshire Council – Town hub community engagement events

More from North Lanarkshire Council for the second Digest in a row. This consultation isn’t strictly cycling-related but is relevant to the eight places in NLC’s Town Visions plans (Digest 80).

NLC have “ambition to replace every school not replaced or remodelled since 1996, our vision is to make these places for the whole community rather than only the school community. To do this, hubs will be places where education is delivered alongside other council and community services. Hubs will have a form and facilities based on the needs of the local community.”

Those needs should include access by active travel. Schools are also where Bikeability training (formerly Cycling Proficiency) takes place and some already have fleets of bicycles. NLC’s website has further background information on the town hubs.

An email from NLC said: “We are carrying out online engagement with our communities throughout March about potential locations for new town hubs in North Lanarkshire.”

• Kilsyth – Monday 8th March – 6:30pm
• Cumbernauld – Tuesday 9th March – 6:30pm
• Airdrie – Wednesday 10th March – 6:30pm
• Coatbridge – Thursday 11th March – 6:30pm
• Bellshill – Monday 15th March – 6:30pm
• Motherwell – Tuesday 16th March – 6:30pm
• Wishaw – Wednesday 17th March – 6:30pm
• Shotts – Thursday 18th March – 6:30pm

The link for each town goes to an Eventbrite sign-up page to register for the event.

1.3: Glasgow City Council – East City Way Phase 1 (London Drive to Daldowie Road) Order – Friday 12 March

The East City Way traffic order was covered in Digest 80. Phase 1 is currently under construction on London Rd and Hamilton Rd around Mount Vernon train station. The order prepares the ground for it hopefully being finished soon. A new GoBike response about ECW went to Glasgow City Council, referencing our points from our response at the draft stage. Mostly about the switch between 1-way and 2-way cycle lanes and the banned turn. The order will be on GCC’s Proposed TRO webpage for comment until Friday 12 March.

1.4: Glasgow City Council – London Road/Hamilton Road (30mph Speed Limit) Order – Friday 12 March

The London Road/Hamilton Road 30mph Speed Limit was also in Digest 80. It lowers the speed limit all the way along London Rd and Hamilton Rd between Dewar’s distillery and the Dog’s Trust. Again, we sent a new GoBike response supporting the change of speed limit and the order is up for comment until Friday 12 March.

1.5: Scottish Canals – Stockingfield public meeting – Thursday 18 March

Scottish Canals maintain and develop canals, towpaths and bridges, including the major works at the Stockingfield junction on the Forth & Clyde canal. This is the canal t-junction without a bridge, where you had to cross by going down through a narrow road tunnel on Lochburn Rd with no pavements or bike path. The plans for a large 3-span canal bridge were approved in March 2020 and works started in autumn. Parts of the towpath will be closed and won’t re-open until later in 2022. Further information about the project is on the Stockingfield page on the Scottish Canals website. If you have questions about issues, like diversions or the new bike-only signals on Lochburn Rd, Scottish Canals are having an online meeting about the project on Thursday 18 March.

1.6: Glasgow Harbour Ltd – Yorkhill Quay Phase 2 – closes Friday 19 March

This development first appeared on our radar in Digest 73, Item 1.1. It had a brief consultation which swiftly disappeared from the company’s website (as we noted in Digest 74, Item 1.3). That was to do with a pre-application about the masterplan for the site. Apparently, “a Proposal of Application Notice (PoAN) associated with the development was submitted to Glasgow City Council on 20th November 2020”. So, this consultation about the eastern side of the site is part of the 12-week pre-application period before plans go in.

The developer’s Yorkhill Quay website has new visualisations (which look very plastic) and reworked PDF plans. It’s not clear from the plans what will happen to the current path behind the site, between the Riverside Museum and the distillery. Nor how wide the new riverfront path will be (but it seems to have street furniture and trees splitting it up).

The Next Steps and Feedback page has a webform you can use to send comments. Or you can email: yorkhillquay@iceniprojects.com by Friday 19 March.

1.7: North Lanarkshire Council – Consultations on traffic issues in Calderbank and Chapelhall – Sunday 21 March

Back in North Lanarkshire, the council is consulting about traffic in the villages of Calderbank and Chapelhall, between Airdrie and the M8. Their email says:

“In response to road safety concerns raised by local residents, the council undertook a series of detailed surveys to assess traffic conditions through both villages. Information from these surveys will be included in the reports.

The public consultation, which will run until 21 March, will give both communities the opportunity to provide feedback on a range of potential road safety improvements.

The reports and online consultation are available from 24 February on our website at www.northlanarkshire.gov.uk/traffic-studies.”

The Chapelhall Traffic Study, in the ‘Potential Improvements’ section, suggests speed tables and mini-roundabouts. The Calderbank Traffic Study proposes mini-roundabouts too but also includes a new crossing on Main St. Each study has a survey link at the end. If you know the areas you have until Sunday 21 March to respond.

1.8: Waverley Park Collective – Liveable Streets Waverley Park

Waverley Park is an area of Shawlands in the Southside of Glasgow (where the streets are named after characters in Walter Scott novels). The Waverley Park Collective are a grassroots group of residents who’ve previously organised community events for children as well as things like cycling training. They’ve recently won funding to plan changes to local streets and set up the Liveable Streets Waverley Park consultation. If you know the area, you can add a pin to the map. No obvious closing date for this one (seems to be open-ended).

1.9: Glasgow Urban Sports – GUSM74 Urban Sports Sculpture Park

This item is about a different kind of cycling to your average GoBike ride! The Glasgow Urban Sports group want to bring land under the M74 extension into productive use as a park for ‘urban sports’ – BMX, skateboarding, inline skating, parkour, etc. The area is between the back of West St Subway station and Eglinton St (a few blocks from Batley’s cash & carry warehouse). The idea for the project originally came up around 2014 (as a legacy of the Commonwealth Games).

Recently, GUS have come up with a new survey to try and demonstrate support for the project. It’s mainly aimed at skaters, or their families, to find out how often they/their relatives might use the park, etc. If you’re not likely to be down there yourself grinding any rails then feel free to share it with friends or family who might. No obvious closing date.

Section 2: Forthcoming Consultations

None this time.

Section 3: Consultation Feedback

3.1: Urban Roots – Malls Mire Newsletter February 2021

Malls Mire was first covered (under its current name) in Digest 74, Item 3.4. The latest February issue of the Malls Mire newsletter reached us this week. It has a few updates about progress and related projects like Polmadie Plots Community Garden.

3.2: Sustrans – Glasgow Cycle Counters (revisited)

In Digest 79, Item 3.3 we bade farewell to the public cycle counter near Saltmarket in Glasgow Green as it was switched off. We were assured that “two replacement cycle counters were installed in the following locations: NCN75 at St. Andrew’s Suspension Bridge and NCN75 at Cuningar Loop Footbridge”. Turns out the new counters aren’t like-for-like replacements…

The new counter feeds back figures to Sustrans/the council only. While that is fair enough for collecting data, it’s not so good for campaigning. The public counter used to prove how many people cycled past, which could be useful to point out to doubters of cycling/active travel. It would be a shame if Sustrans had moved away from public counters altogether. When will we see the Saltmarket counter’s LED like again…?