Deansgate Cycle Slalom

 Deansgate is famous for it's on-street sports events and Manchester City Council seem hell bent on inventing a new one, cycle slalom.

The new northbound cycle lane weaves it's way between pavement and a forest of bollards with priority being given to vehicle parking, loading bays and traffic coming out of side streets.

What's wrong with building cycle lanes that actually go in a straight line along a straight road?

Southbound you are running with the traffic negotiating badly designed bus gates before you are suddenly directed to cross the traffic onto the opposite side of the road only to be dumped back into the traffic just before the end.

Tempted to call it a load of bollards...

Wilmslow Road Northbound - 2 videos

Not sure this needs any words... it's just unbelievable.



Watch out for the way that motor cycles have been parked on the cycle track...



Once Oxford Road has been sorted I suspect this will be chaos.

Armadillos, Broken Bollards and Crass Carparking

Welcome to Salford's shit cycle infrastructure.

Starting at the junction with the A576, this is Great Clowes Street in Salford. This is the start of a new set of cycle infrastructure, and it leaves a lot to be desired...



The cycle lane has only just started when it runs straight into a bus stop.



Next there is a plastic island with two plastic bollards. Note how the island is entirely in the cycle lane, not even on the white line. This makes the cycle lane feel crowded and, quite frankly threatening.



Next there are the armadillos - these useless items are a method of dumping waste plastic from Spain on the UK's roads. Note how these are placed well into the cycle lane rather than on the white line as was the case with the original trial on Middlewood Street and Liverpool Street.




These plastic lumps make cycling along this route very uncomfortable.



You quite quickly feel trapped between the armadillos which, because of their shape, could easily throw you into the road and the rubbish which is strewn in the cycle lane.



At the junction with Upper Camp Street, all the plastic falls away and the junction is totally exposed to oncoming traffic.



Beyond the junction the dirty, un-swept cycle route feels neglected and horrible.



At the junctions there is no protection. All the cars I saw emerging from side lanes blocked the cycle lane. Notice how this cycle lane then crashes into a bus stop.



In any location where there is a bus stop or a junction there is no physical protection whatsoever.

In other words, when it gets difficult and dangerous, you are on your own.



This bus stop show just how sharply a bus must swerve across the cycle lane to get into the bus stop.

This is dangerous!



Further along, this traffic cone, left in the middle of the cycle lane, demonstrates just how much Salford council really care about people cycling.



This area is strewn with broken glass and broken pieces of traffic cones.



And then we find the cycle lane blocked by a car...



Almost parked right up against the next set of bollards this car IS PARKED LEGALLY!

There are no double yellow lines...



On Broughton Bridge you approach the carnage of broken plastic...



Here traffic cones mark the locations where vehicles have smashed up the bollards, here one has been destroyed,



next both have disappeared.



As you move onto Blackfriars road there are more



and more broken bollards.



Followed by proof that the armadillos can't keep motor vehicles out of cycle lanes



provided by a "HIGHWAYS MAINTENANCE" driver who was fitting something to a nearby lamppost.



There are then a few more items of plastic in the cycle lane before



you are thrown into this expanse of tarmac as you approach Trinity Way.



After Trinity way there is a short burst of green paint



before the cycle lane turns into car parking spaces and charging points for electric cars.



Quite why this stretch is given over to parking is something only Salford Council can answer,



and at the end of it there was yet another car blocking the cycle lane.



At the junction with Viaduct Street there are lots of cones and road signs in the cycle lane.



Finally the cycle route ends in this bus stop.



The rest of the route into Manchester City Centre is just road.

Quite frankly this is horrible nasty, dirty and neglected.

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.

New Victoria Station Tram Crossing - Todd Street to Corporation Street

Now this is just a short cycle cut-through outside Victoria Station where there are now four sets of tracks entering the station. The old cut-through wasn't up to much, but the new one seems to have got lost somewhere along the way...



Approaching from the Corporation Street direction it didn't look to bad at first.



The bollards are presumably there to stop motor vehicles getting through, but may cause problems for cargo-trikes and quads. However, I'm not so sure as to why the green surface has been laid across the tram tracks.



Major problems come to light in the island between the two pairs of tracks.



This island is too narrow to take a normal bicycle, you would need to turn it sideways if there were trams on both sides and if you were caught at this point with a bike and trailer, the contents of the trailer would end up underneath the oncoming tram!



Across the tracks heading for Todd Street it doesn't look too bad, apart from the large numbers of people crossing.



However, you arrive at Todd Street to find no reasonable and legal route in any direction, but at the moment you are probably best off going straight on down the side of Cathedral Gardens.



However, it's only when you turn around and look at the route towards Corporation Street that you see the true lunacy of this crossing, this exit into Long Millgate is a dead end for motor vehicles and double yellow lines, yet there is this stupid little lane directing you through two right-angled turns to make space for cars. It is totally impractical and idiotic, which begs the question as to who was responsible for this design, Manchester City Council or TfGM?



We know there will be more rubbish to come. TfGM briefly showed us the maps and the response was universal condemnation.

If TfGM/City Council make a mess of a simple cycle facility like this, the rest is going to be even worse than we feared.