When Cycle Tracks End...

The A56 Chester Road/Bridgewater Viaduct heading north east towards Deansgate has a two way cycle track on the right hand side. for people cycling south east it is ok, just so long as you watch out for traffic at the junctions.

However, if you are using it to cycle north west you are in for a nasty shock...

It is tricky to cross junctions on the wrong side of the road, and here at the junction with Great Jackson Street the road eats into your space making curved give way lines.



Carrying on it doesn't seem too bad,



but if you are aiming to go north up towards Deansgate then the most obvious thing to do is take this left turn.



However, as these two lads find, you are simply dumped into the path of oncoming traffic.



The large raised traffic island then gets in your way, making things even more dangerous.



From here on it is anyone's guess, one of them goes straight on to the pavement whilst the other dives left across the road.



He did make it across safely, leaving his mate going up the pavement on the other side of the road.



This is one of the worst examples of dangerous cycling half-measures in Manchester, that I have found. I know of one person who was hit by a car here 10 years ago, and I am sure there have been more. I think this was a facility that was unfinished, rather than designed to be this dangerous, but either way round it should never have been left like this.

I find it far safer to stick to the road going north east on Chester Road, and avoid this track altogether.


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How Manchester plans to have "20,000 more cyclists" by 2017

If you listen carefully to this piece on Radio 4's You and Yours, you can start to unpick the figures and find out how Manchester City Council and British Cycling have chosen a measure of cycling that fits the aims of British Cycling whilst leave the general cyclist out in the cold.



The measure they have chosen is Sport England's Active People Survey. It is a measure of sports participation not transport choice.

The survey currently puts Manchester 8th in the country for levels of cycling with 43,000 people getting onto a bicycle once a month. Yes, that's right, the survey counts the number of people who cycle at least once a month and has nothing to do with the proportion of journeys by bicycle.

In other words Manchester City Council can meet its chosen target of 20,000 more cyclists even if the level of cycling on Manchester's streets falls significantly.

All it needs to do is get more people driving to parks and cycle trails and cycling round and round a track for an hour to reach its target. Stand by for massive amounts of council money being spent on facilities for British Cycling and the Sky Ride whilst on-road conditions get even worse...

.......

There is no sign of a press notice containing these figures, and no sign of the Cycling Strategy document on the cycling section of the council's web site. There is no mention on the Leader's Blog either.

If you know what you are looking for you can find the full thing here, and it is rather less of a headline grabber...

.......

Even more reasons not to put bikes on pavements

The other end of Chester Road this time.

I assume that NCP put this sign up and secured it to the street furniture.



The cycle track on the pavement is shit - this lamp post is in the middle of it, but it still doesn't excuse NCP's behavior.





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Yet another reason not to force bikes onto pavements

Chester Road - crap pavement markings put in in the past few years. This is beyond a bad joke Manchester City Council!


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A56 Cycle Path of Doom

From cawhitworth's photostream 19th May 2008






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