Belfast: Hire Bikes & Bollards

On a recent business visit to Belfast I managed to grab a few photos of the cycle facilities in the city.

Walking in from the ferry terminal, apart from some two-way pavement cycle tracks beside the one way system, the first significant sign of money being committed to cycling was a Belfast Bikes hire station. According to their web site there are 35 docking stations, but they are only located in the city centre, so no use for foot passengers arriving off the ferry from Birkenhead.



The next facility I came across was a two way bollarded cycle track with cycle lights in Upper Arthur Street.



It was striking for the choice of white, cycle signed, flexible bollards. These are far more visible than any being used in the Manchester area and unlike crap armadillos they seemed to keep vehicles out.



However, the interface with the crossing at Chichester Street was somewhat clumsy.



I also came across a single direction, bollarded cycle track in Queen Street.



Though the bollards didn't reach the pedestrian crossing, and this blue van was blocking the exit...



This track in College Square North was blocked by a container



and vehicles, so I assume it was still being built.



Overall I didn't see that many people cycling, though those that were mostly dressed in ordinary clothes. A significant proportion of the people on bikes were using the hire bikes, often in quite smart office clothes, so it seems to be having a positive impact.

Wilmslow Road Southbound - 2 Videos

A view from the handlebars - the Curry Mile cycle slalom and beyond - watch out for the point where I get cut up by a bus driver...



Looks like it still hasn't been finished yet!

Going further South - more problems with bus drivers.



Thrown together from bits & pieces.

Did you spot the advance cycle green lights? Blink and you miss them - tokenism at its worst.

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.

Tyldesley Loopline Update, Roe Green to Ellenbrook

I last rode the Tyldesley Loopline between Roe Green and Ellenbrook back in August 2014.

Salford council held a consultation about improving this route last December and it seems that there have been some works carried out - sadly that has resulted in the route being almost un-ridable for the time being.

Starting at the junction with the Roe Green Loopline, the path is in reasonable condition.



There are signs of the trees having been cut back, but initially the surface is rideable.



However, the path worsens at this point.



It is seriously muddy, no place for racing bikes...



After the bridge under the East Lancs Road the path goes up steeply to the left and open water appears on the trackbed.



From here the path on the top of the embankment is a bit muddy, but rideable, whilst the trackbed looks more like a lake.



Once the path returns to the trackbed things get much worse



Here the preparation works have churned up the trackbed.



At this point it is very difficult to make progress. The mud is several inches deep in places, and you get wheelspin on the flat.



These conditions last all the way to Ellenbrook and the start of the guided busway.



All in all this route is almost unrideable and well worth avoiding until Salford Council get round to finishing the upgrade works.

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.