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Thread: Key points, following @TraffordCouncil's response on the A56 pop-up bike lane and the decision to remove it in August.
@roadcc @allpartycycling @MENnewsdesk @mcrconfidential @wordstoseeby @alice_rReach @niallgriffiths @WalkRideGM @KateGreenSU https://twitter.com/juststepsways/status/1278744176444792834
@roadcc @allpartycycling @MENnewsdesk @mcrconfidential @wordstoseeby @alice_rReach @niallgriffiths @WalkRideGM @KateGreenSU https://twitter.com/juststepsways/status/1278744176444792834
1. The council's decision to remove the the Sale and Timperley sections makes it look as though they fundamentally don't understand how temporary measures for cycling and modal shift works.
There wouldn't have been sufficient data to back up any decision in the time it was installed, particularly the Timperley section, which was only there for a blink of an eye. It's hard to see this as anything other than a knee-jerk reaction to certain complaints.
2. In wanting to remove the A56 pop-up bike lane in August, before schools go back and many people return to work, the council appear to not understand the purpose of these measures and statutory guidance from the government on walking and cycling.
With reduced public transport capacity, councils need to provide walking and cycling alternatives for those who don't have access to a car and to ensure the road network doesn't become even more congested. You don't just remove these alternatives at the point they're needed most.
3. The council are happy for the A56 to return to being a 6 lane urban motorway through Stretford and put traffic flow before the needs and health of local residents. We already know we have illegal levels of air pollution and huge problems with severance caused by the A56.
The temporary reduction in motor traffic lanes has shown it doesn't have to be this way. These measures should be kept in place and the council should be pushing ahead with making them permanent, not waiting for some mythical consultation that'll likely never happen.
4. The council seem to be suggesting the key route for Urmston residents commuting by bike to the city centre is through Trafford Park, not Stretford. This raises massive issues around social safety and will be a significant barrier to many commuting by bike, women in particular.
Is this just because they don't want to upset drivers by building a safe cycle route between Urmston to Stretford. This was once touted as being one of the early #BeeNetwork schemes Urmston to Chorlton, but it has since been quietly shelved.
5. Similarly, while the Highways England work linking Urmston to Sale is a nice addition. It is an off-road leisure route and shouldn't be looked at as being part of the core cycle network, again because of massive issues around social safety.
It's points like this that make me wonder if the council still don't get what's trying to be achieved. Cycling as a means of transport, not just for leisure.
6. The council's knee-jerk decision to remove the pop-up bike lane makes it look very unlikely to ever see a permanent safe protected cycle route along the A56.
The nature of this route, particularly south of the M60, means that difficult decisions would need to be taken to achieve it and the council would have to stand up to some opposition. The current council exec has shown they're not willing to do this.
7. It's now unclear what contribution @TraffordCouncil had with the £21.5m funding bid to the government for 200km of protected cycle lanes, if the only significant temporary measure is now being removed in August https://twitter.com/OfficialTfGM/status/1278586721148571648
8. It's now also unclear what the purpose of the Commonplace map is, if the council's view is the temporary measures are only in place until the traffic returns in Sept. Lots of people have put effort into adding to the map, was that all a waste of time? https://safestreetstrafford.commonplace.is/comments
