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.

Speed bumps, locked gates, loose chippings and new dismount signs - Making cycling inconvenient on the Ashton Canal

When I walked along the Ashton Canal back in April the resurfacing was still underway. Progress was promising, with a good quality tarmac surface being laid, though the work did seem to be rather slow. This route is part of the Velocity plans, so the money has come from cycling budgets.



Four months later and the final touches are mostly done.

Final touches designed to make cycling uncomfortable, noisy, dangerous and inconvenient.

Speed bumps

Yes, speed bumps!

So, you put down a decent tarmac surface, then ruin it with these cobbled bumps. There are scores of them all along the path. Total waste of money, money that's supposed to encourage cycling not discourage it.

Locked Gates

Yes, gates which have been open are now locked.

This was last year...



and now. Try getting a bike and child trailer through this - impossible without lifting it over. Remember this is a Velocity route that is supposed to encourage cycling not discourage it.

Loose Chippings

Remember that lovely smooth tarmac surface in the first photo?

Well forget it!

Almost the entire route has been covered in a thick layer of loose chippings. This makes progress along the path slow and noisy, and if that dog runs out in-front of you your brakes will simply lock up so don't bother with the front brake if you want to remain upright.



and then there are the holes, but I'll get to them later...

Cyclists Dismount

Yes, the signs of failure are everywhere, many of them new, presumably paid for with Velocity money. So cycling money is being spent telling people to get off and walk.



There have always been dismount signs on this route, but they are multiplying, thanks to Velocity funding.



The main excuse for them is the narrow path under the bridges.



But no attempt has been made to widen the path or provide alternatives, and in most cases nothing has been done to repair the poor surfaces under the bridges.



Likewise the cobbled surfaces by the locks have not been repaired, despite being in a dreadful condition.

Lighting

Yes, there has been some attempt to put in lighting - solar powered lights in the path, white, except above some locks



where they are red. However, they are unlikely to provide sufficient lighting to persuade most people to cycle along this route in the dark. Many of these lights are shaded by fences & trees so they won't charge up in the winter when they are most needed.

Only a few of these lights have gone in so far at the Manchester end, the rest of the path is covered in holes.



I know from posts on Twitter that many people have gone back to cycling on the road, because the Ashton Canal path is now really inconvenient for daily commuting. Looks like TfGM and the Canal and River Trust have managed to divert cycling money into upgrading a footpath whilst discouraging people from cycling on it.