Thursday 20 January 2011

Eccles to MediaCity

From manchester cycling and walking blog

A nasty example of building an expensive new road and forcing people to cycle on the pavement and give way to all the side roads.



More pictures at MediaCity:UK, new development, same old crap designs.........

Wednesday 12 January 2011

Quay's Gateway - Cross Lane to Trafford Road

Just when I thought Manchester had some pretty mad stuff going on, I tried to ride over to MediaCity on the bike. One key point is the crossing of Regent Road/M602 at what the local council's map calls Quay's gateway. I'll let the pictures tell the three million pound story, starting at the southern end of Cross Lane.





as you can see with only a few months to go before MediaCity opens it is far from being finished, though the notes from the Salford Cycle Forum indicate it should have been finished in August.

Link it to pictures taken back in August.





there are steep slopes up and down to get over the railway line



there are some pretty sharp corners





and underground sections







but the real sting is in the tail...

At the end of all this you get dumped out onto the Trafford Road dual carriageway



where (unless you illegally cycle down the pavement) you have to get in the right hand lane





to turn into Broadway and head for MediaCity



Not something you would want to do in fast moving traffic!


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Tuesday 11 January 2011

Princes Bridge - does it get any better?

Is this the highest quality cycle facility in Manchester or Salford?



An entire road bridge, now closed at one end, given over to non-motorised traffic, and the occasional parked taxi...



It certainly feels good riding over it, it's just a shame the bits either side don't live up to the experience.





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Sunday 2 January 2011

Whitworth Street - WTF?

Can the idiot who wasted public money on this please own up...



No, this is not a faked photo, this really is a cycle path on a pavement with a pole in the middle. It is quite impossible to enter this track without falling off your bike into the path of a passing bus, or onto the pavement.



Not only that, this track ends in a give way sign, and there isn't even a dropped curb at the end so you can join the bus lane without a jolt.



On Google Maps you can see the before version - they removed the post box, other wise this would have been the most idiotic cycle facility ever...


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And it is a real shame that they removed a lovely old postbox to build an unusable cycle path!


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Just how much public money was wasted on this useless crap? I'd love to find out - if anyone knows the answer please tell.