The Cycle Route into a Bus Sandwich - Portland Street is really bad!

The plans for Portland Street were always pretty dreadful, and unlike Oxford Road, our replies to the consultation were completely ignored, and the dangerous designs have been implemented with very few changes.

This set of images follows on from last November's post Portland Street - is this Manchester's most dangerous cycle lane?

The cycle route from here is just an advisory cycle lane.



It even disappears at pedestrian crossings!



As you approach the junction with the bus station things get really bad. First there is this nasty interaction with the taxi rank,



then there is this dreadful 90 degree right turn to get across the bus lane.

This section is very dangerous. It will be far safer to cycle in the bus lane!



However, this is where it gets bonkers...

On Saturday 6th February the cycle lane carried on like this.






However, by yesterday it had become a hole in the ground! I understand there had been an invitation-only meeting at TfGM where this had been discussed, but this is just rearranging the deckchairs whilst the ship sinks. TfGM failed to listen the first time round and now public money is being wasted digging up what has already been installed.



The next section is still in place,



which leads to the tram crossing



and then more intermittent advisory cycle lane leads to the next dreadful design error.



Here you can see how the road has been narrowed, creating a narrow section of cycle lane



which is directly in the path of turning vehicles



as this bus driver demonstrated.



Then we lead into the bus sandwich.



Here you are directed into the gap between the bus stop and the bus lane



before arriving at a token ASL.



The last section is still under construction, so watch this space.



How long before someone gets badly hurt?

The safest position to be in all the way along Portland Street will be the middle of the bus lane, totally avoiding these dreadful cycle lanes.

Curry Mile Cycle Tracks - early preview

I haven't been down Wilmslow Road for a few months, so I wasn't aware of the level of progress that is being made on the Curry Mile. The plans for this route were a real mixed bag. It was good that the council were aiming for proper cycle tracks, but the design completely failed to address the issue of safety at junctions.

The section southbound from Rusholme Place is sort of open, so here's a quick preview of what it looks like so far...

The first thing you notice is the way the cycle track abruptly moves from the cycle lane across the junction, left to go behind the parking spaces.



The second problem is the attitude of the contractors who see no problem with dumping traffic signs in the cycle track, on the wrong side of the parked cars where no diver can see them.



At the junction with Banff Road you clearly see a problem with the way the kerbing is cut back to allow vehicles to swing round the corner into the path of cyclists. I suspect this will be a significant problem along much of this route. Drivers are invited into the junction by its shape rather than feeling that they are intruding, as would be the case if they were presented with a raised kerb to cross.



Past Banff Road you can see how somebody has responded positively to our concerns about people parking on the cycle track by putting in this continual row of half-height bollards (sadly only plastic). The nice thing is that they add a feeling of continuity and they help visually distinguish the cycle track from the pavement.



However, some of the larger gaps in the kerbing will provide the opportunity for drivers to get onto the cycle track and pavement. Stand by for lots of photos of taxis, vans & cars blocking places like this.



Further along there is another sudden lurch to the left and a narrowing of the track.



The track is already attracting people to cycle along it, and I saw very few people walking along it.



At the junction with Great Western Street the pavement has been sacrificed to allow two lanes of traffic at the junction and this phone box allows clear comparison with the original pavement, as well as causing another nasty kink in the cycle track. The cycle track is also very narrow in places, which makes me wonder how trikes will manage along here...



...particularly Errand Trike.



At the junction itself they have yet to sort out the traffic light too.



In general, the design has sacrificed pavement width to provide space for additional traffic lanes and unnecessary car parking.



At the junction with Dagenham Road there is another nasty kink in the track



followed by an unprotected junction and another nasty kink back to the left afterwards.



The open section of track currently ends at Denson Street. Here you can see another potential problem with the design. The drains are all in the cycle track, so it is, for the most part lower than the rest of the road surface. This means it is likely to end up blighted by puddles and the surface will degrade quickly in the winter.



Here there is another unprotected junction. You currently have to get out onto the road and compete with the buses for space.



However, it may not be long till the next section is open. Here there are also full height bollards designating the edge of the pavement, not quite sure why.



All in all, the route looks like it will be a big improvement over the useless cycle lanes which slalomed round the bus stops, and left you fighting with buses cars and taxis for space. The main safety problem along here was caused by the bus stops and parking movements.

However, the poor design of the junctions poses a safety issue, and many are likely to come a cropper with the sudden changes in direction. I expect this route will see an increase in the level of cycling, but little change in the number of incidents. Time will tell.

Ultimately, there may be an even bigger danger resulting from this scheme. Bus drivers seem to be getting more aggressive towards people cycling along Wilmslow Road. Some now seem to think that anyone not in a cycle track is fair game, and I was cut up by a bus near Platt Fields Park and then shouted at for not using the tiny section of cycle track at that point. I suspect we may see much more of this kind of behavior in the near future as there is a history of similar behavior in Manchester.

Portland Street - is this Manchester's most dangerous cycle lane?

Now the Portland Street roadworks are beginning to subside the damage done to cycle access to this part of the city center is becoming clear. Here are a series of photographs I took this morning whilst walking along Portland street. They are all in sequence and show just how dangerous this new section of cycle lane really is.

Any sensible person would keep well to the right at this point and hold the centre of the traffic lane, but anyone tempted to ride in the cycle lane at this point is putting them in severe danger of ending up under a bus. We told TfGM just how inadequate their proposals for cycling along Portland Street were, but they totally ignored us and changed nothing.

Here you see one bus in the bus stop whilst a second pulls up.



Then a third bus stops completely blocking the cycle lane.



And a fourth bus then covers up the cycle lane completely. Note the warning to cyclists not to pass a bus on the left hand side!



The buses all then pull away



but continue to block the cycle lane



and do so even as they cross the traffic lights.



The sequence then repeats a few moments later



Just imagine trying to cycle through this!



When looked at from the other direction you can see how buses held at the lights on pulling out of the bus stop also block the cycle lane.



And yes you can see this dreadful design in the original publicity video.



The engineer who designed this should be forced to cycle up and down Portland Street on a busy Saturday morning until they work out the error of their ways.

Portland Street Roadworks

Portland Street Bus Priority works have started in central Manchester. This is the scheme where, unlike Oxford Road, the City Council and TfGM have failed to design in proper segregated cycle provision. Now the roadworks have started, the road has been narrowed considerably and the bus lane is no longer in force, making it a really nasty place to cycle.



The central islands are currently being ripped out, and the road is currently one lane each way on the outer lanes of the road.



Despite the bus stops being suspended I still saw passengers being dropped off here.



And the pavement is no better.



Generally the place is worth avoiding, if you can.



It is becoming almost impossible to get round the city centre on a bike at the moment.

City Centre Consultation - Respond Now!

Like the Oxford Road consultation, the City Centre Bus Priority consultation has the potential to have quite a big impact on cycling levels in the city.



The closing date is Friday 5 July 2013.

The main thrust of the plan is to block the current rat-run through Portland Street by Piccadilly Gardens, open up Oxford Street to two way traffic which is particularly good for cycle access from St Peter's Square to Oxford Road. However, there is no plan for a 20 mph speed limit for Portland Street, no decent provision for cycling and the overall quality of the design is very messy and disjointed.

The City Centre plans need to be completely redrawn to bring them in line with Oxford Road and provide convenient, and effective cycle infrastructure built to Dutch design standards. If we can get lots of responses from cyclists on this one too then the city might just wake up to the fact that they need to make the whole city cycle friendly, not just Oxford Road.

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How to Respond.

Take a look at this video to see what is proposed, and notice how there is no decent cycle provision.



Notice how the video, this time concentrates on bus flow rather than cycling, ignores Oxford Street completely. Also notice how the proposed Portland Street cycle lanes are standard UK poor quality. If you want more detail you can download the leaflet.

Then compose your response in a text editor of some sort because there isn't space in the web form to see everything you have written.

Write as little or as much as you feel appropriate, but please remember to:-

1) Call for the plans for this whole area to be redesigned to make them fit for cycling, with infrastructure designed to Dutch standards.

2) Tell TfGM if you regularly cycle in the city centre and write about your current experience and how you want it to improve.

3) Support the removal of general traffic from the Picadilly Gardens end of Portland Street.

5) Call for a 20mph speed limit for the whole of this area.

6) Call for 2-way cycling on all the roads in this area.

7) Call for the cycle route design to be improved throughout the whole area - if necessary by employing experienced engineers from the Netherlands to finalise the design.

Once you have written your response, then visit the online form, fill in your name, full address, postcode and email address. It is important that our responses are seen to come from individuals who live in the area.

Then copy and paste your text into the box marked "Your views*", scroll through to check it's all there and hit the submit button.

Then tell every cyclist you know to do the same...

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You can also send your response by email to buspriority@tfgm.com or post it to

Transport for Greater Manchester bus priority,
FREEPOST RRHE-RKUU-KSJY,
Manchester,
M1 3BG
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Update: Thanks to Pete Abel's excelent suggestions I have simplified this post to encourage more people to respond.

Violent bus driver walks free from court

The MEN reported last week how a "Bus driver repeatedly punched 65-year-old cyclist - for complaining he had been cut up on Portland Street". The, now former, bus driver "walked free from court having been found guilty of common assault by beating – after magistrates were told he had been made homeless after losing his job at bus firm Finglands." It seems that punching an old man is ok if he's riding a bicycle!



In my experience the standard of driving by some Finglands drivers is dreadful, and this particular driver even took the trouble to open his window and shout abuse at me.



The poor state of the bus services in Manchester is a product of bus deregulation by the Thatcher government. Bus companies actively compete for passengers along hot spots like Oxford Road, increasing danger for pedestrians, bus passengers and those riding bicycles.