TFGM's Abandoned Bike Hubs

Not sure whether the TFGM Cycle Hubs themselves have been abandoned, or whether they mostly contain abandoned bikes these days, but the situation I found in Bury and Bolton a few weeks ago looked pretty sad.

These headline grabbing schemes were always a bad idea. The one in Manchester City Centre in an underground car park cost £500,000 which works out at £2,500 for each cycle parking space, and that is only if it was fully utilised. Similarly, the above ground, Bolton hub cost £350,000 for 200 spaces, a mere £1,750 per parking space.

Bolton

On a recent weekday visit to Bolton I saw how the hub has evolved.

While on the outside it still looks like a functioning site, the interior tells a different story

 

 And close up the bikes look like some may have been abandoned.

A total of 7 bicycles on a normal weekday morning in a facility designed for 200 demonstrates the failure of these projects. At a total cost of £350,000 for the facility that is £50,000 per bike!

Bury

A few days later in Bury the situation was much the same and unlike the Bolton hub, this one takes some finding, being hidden away behind the Bury Interchange in the car park. The Bury Local Transport Plan "The cycle hub is remote from the Metrolink and bus facilities...." Though it goes on to say it "lacks capacity." 

 Well it would certainly not appear to lack capacity, at least in its current form. Again there were only 7 bikes in the facility, though these did look in better condition, as if the bicycles are still being used.

There were also plenty of unused bike locks, many of which may have been abandoned,

along with the contents of some of the lockers.

The lesson from all of this is that these schemes were designed to be headline grabbing projects for government ministers to open and had nothing to do with the practicalities of commuting by bike.

They've shrunk Wigan!

I'm returning to a rather old project which got parked in the long grass many years ago. I won't share details yet as I may not have time to finish it, but I will say that it involves maps, specifically maps of cycle routes to complement the route descriptions on this blog. So my starting point was to try and get my hands on copies of all the Transport for Greater Manchester cycle network maps. That didn't succeed, as the 2022 maps are now out of print and TFGM are waiting for all the local councils to update their routes, so despite several attempts I still don't have copies of three of the maps.

So, the alternative approach was to download the PDF versions of the maps and print them out on A3 paper. This turned out to be quite a good way of visualising the GM cycle routes as I could tape the sheets together and make one big GM cycling map, except there was one problem...

The sheets for Wigan, on the left, could be matched up with each other, but didn't fit into the rest of the maps. It took a few attempts before the penny dropped, they are a different scale to the rest of the maps. While the scale on the Wigan maps insist that the map is a 1:16,000 scale, like all the others, it is actually 1:20,000. On closer inspection it is clear that the Wigan maps have been shrunk, rather than re-scaled, with smaller text and narrower lines.

So, possibly ever since they were first produced, the Wigan cycle network maps have been printed with the wrong scale, just one of the many errors that persist in this map series, along with non-existent cycle routes. 

I eventually managed to fit Wigan into the rest of the maps by up-scaling the sheets on the printer, so I can get on with the next stage of the project.

TfGM City Centre Survey

Another poorly publicised TfGM transport survey - this time about the city centre.

Time to ban the motor vehicles...!

https://www.tfgm.com/your-city-centre



Survey closes 17th October 2018.

More restrictions on cycling at Mediacity?

TfGM have put up new maps of the diversions around the tram works in Trafford. At first glance they might be seen as useful information, but a closer look reveals that they have included a cyclists dismount restriction on BOTH bridges across the ship canal.



Detailed map - Wider area map


Anti-cycling notices were posted on the swing bridge in August 2016, exactly 5 years after the place opened - probably to do with the time a developer has to wait before they can ask for their section 106 commitments to be removed.



However, no notices have appeared on the lifting bridge... YET!



TfGM and Peel are in the process of creating a bicycle user group - controlled by the two organisations and these maps are perhaps the first evidence that they may be trying to further restrict cycling on the site?

Village Circle Roundabout & Sir Alex Fergusion Way - Trafford

I've been seeing reports from people who cycle through the tram works at Village Circle Roundabout and Sir Alex Fergusion Way in Trafford that the area is now very dangerous for people walking and cycling.



People have reported that the traffic lights have not been working for several weeks and there has been at least one pedestrian has been knocked over and injured and driver behavior is pretty dreadful. The issue is going to be raised at Trafford Cycle Forum and complaints have been sent to TfGM and Trafford council.



I have also seen dreadful behavior by contractors in the area, parking and driving on cycle tracks and pavements is a daily occurrence.

Why has there been 14 months of inaction on the Irwell Towpath in Ordsall?

Has my ranting and raving on Twitter finally forced some action on the Irwell Towpath?

Hi @OfficialTfGM @urbanvision_uk @SalfordCouncil @VisitSalford
When are you going to fix this cycle route? https://t.co/mJcvjHzCdc pic.twitter.com/EXY8pTXjwZ

— MadCycleLanes of MCR (@MadCycleLaneMCR) March 5, 2017

This path has been closed since December 2015



This morning was the first time in 14 months I have seen work being carried out on the path.



Rubble was being lifted into the area of the collapsed path and raked into position.



On returning this evening it was clear that this was not a long term repair of the towpath but a short term cludge.



Bags of rocks have been placed in the river to provide an outer edge and rubble has been put in between the bags and the remaining path to build the area up towards path level.



The fact that this is a short term measure begs the question as to why it has take over 14 months to get this far?

Bridgewater Way Ice Danger

This morning clearly illustrated that if you don't maintain a cycle route you are creating danger.

The Bridgewater Way coming out of Castlefield was covered in sheet ice. Anyone hitting this ice on a bicycle could easilly have ended up in the canal, in water that was freezing over, a lethal combination.









Let's just hope that TfGM take this seriously and sort this out. The are promoting cycling in winter but their routes are clearly not fit for purpose. I won't be using this route until temperatures rise above freezing.

Middlewood St Update - WTF?

This is what Salford's flagship cycle route, featured on many TfGM leaflets, looks like today...



If proof were needed that Salford Council and it's contractors couldn't give a shit about cycling, then this is it!



Sot armadillos, these pieces of recycled plastic have served their purpose (which was to avoid putting in good quality cycle infrastructure). Now that lie has been accepted by the DfT Salford Council have allowed a developer to wipe out this cycle route without any care for cycling safety.



The priority here is not cycle safety - that was last year.



Now it is all about handing over road space and pavements to developers who couldn't care less.



After all if the occasional person gets killed by an HGV or tipper truck then that is presumably an acceptable price to pay?



Who gives a shit anymore round here?

Portland Street - still a bus sandwich

Took this video today.

Only a small part of this dangerous cycle route has been modified, the rest is probably the most dangerous part.



This was how it looked back in March.

One has to wonder what this all cost. Perhaps I'll get round to an FoI request...

Leigh Guided Busway Cycle Track

Most of these photos are from a bike ride a couple of weeks ago, co things may have changed. The rest are from June 2013 as work on the busway began.

This route starts at the end of the Tyldesley Loopline at Ellenbrook. However conditions on this route are dreadful at the moment, so best get to here by road at the moment.

The busway opens out like a huge gaping mouth, and quite dwarfs the cycle track which goes round the back of the shelter to the right.



Quite a contrast to the old cycle route.



The busway entrances all contain car traps - we could do with those on a few cycle lanes!



This was how the signs promotedthe busway durring the early preparation works - note the emphasis on horses - not a cycle to be seen. Clearly the equestrian lobby have good contacts at TfGM.



Evidence of horses is already beginning to accumulate on the path - horse riders should have the same duty as dog walkers to remove their animal's excrement from public places.

The surface of the path is very poor. It is a loose gravel surface and very uneven. It has been clearly chosen to favor horses over pedal cycles. It is almost certainly going to be unsuitable for hand trikes and road bikes.



The road crossings are all on the level, despite this being an old railway route, each equipped with button operated traffic lights. This is the City Road crossing.



The majority of people using the path that day were walking dogs,



but I did see quite a few people on bikes.



There are no barriers to prevent access by cars. However, as there has already been one crash on the busway, there will need to be regular access for cranes to move stranded buses.



This vehicle was from a security firm, parked at the junction with Mosely Common Road. Here the railway line used to go under the road.



Over the road there was fencing across the path, but it had been moved aside.



Here the track was quite narrow and the cycle path goes up onto the embankment, as it did before the works.



The track runs alongside Chester Road with no obvious means of stopping it from being used as a car park once the fencing goes.



More opened fencing at Hough Lane crossing



At this point the old railway track went under a bridge.



This was the view from just beyond in 2013.  Upton Lane still crossed the trackbed by bridge at this point.



The cycle track crosses the busway in a couple of places.



The notices warn that trespass on the busway is a criminal offence - shame the same can't be said for cars on cycleways.



The next road crossing is Well Street.



A little further along the path reaches Astley Street where this bus station has been created.



Again a lot of earth moving has been done to create this.



At this point the path ran out. It is completely un-surfaced and closed between here and Holden Road in Leigh itself. Whilst this could be an excellent route for cycle commuting, TfGM clearly want you to get on the bus.



Whilst the cycle path may be unfinished and poorly surfaced, the car park is properly tarmaced and already in service.



To get to the other end involved a 3.5 mile diversion with road conditions like this...



The other end of the gap at Holden lane.



The last section of path is tarmaced but narrow.



It brings you out to yet more freshly tarmaced car parks.



Two of them, on on either side of the cycle path



which brings you out onto the pavement at East Bond Street.



Generally, this route is a bit of a disappointment. We are pretty sure that the poor quality surface is as TfGM intended, as this message shows.

Pretty sure that the section open have the completed surface. Based on the message from them. pic.twitter.com/zB9GpnphoA

— Manchester Cycling (@MSCycling) April 8, 2016

Hopefully, the rest will be open soon for those who wish to cycle rather than sit on a bus, provided the uneven surface doesn't put them off.