Oxford Road Cycle Track Closure

A whole section of the Oxford Road cycle track, southbound from Charles Street to Brancaster Road has been closed overnight.



It seems that the building work on the old BBC site has been given permission to take over the whole of the pavement and the cycle track.



So the only safe way to cycle along here is to take the centre of the lane to prevent unsafe overtaking.



My bet is they will now simply use the extra space to park vans & cars...



So much for, so called, popup cycle lanes and new infrastructure.

Segregation - by wooden fence?

This small section of cycle track has been closed for months whilst contractors have been digging holes for some reason. Now the workforce has departed a wooden fence has appeared between the cycle track and the pavement.



Strangely a further fence has been built to block the route and force cycles into the road - a dual carriageway with heavy traffic. Notice how the cycle track has not been resurfaced at its original level.



So why on earth are these fences here? Are they a new infrastructure experiment or some idiotic idea hatched up by a rogue council officer or contractors trying to cut corners?



Or could this be a land ownership issue?



Answers on a postcard please...

Oxford Street Lorry Park

Today some minor roadworks were taking place in Oxford Street.

The signage directs cycles onto the pavement against council guidelines.



The work was not blocking the cycle way, but their lorry was.



What's the point of segregated cycle tracks when they are abused like this?

Manchester's Flagship Cycleway?

I don't think I've ever been along Oxford Road on a bike without having to swerve into the road to avoid taxis, roadworks or other obstructions.




The taxi drivers block it all the time.



This is also a common occurrence.



The roadworks never seem to stop.



When combined with taxis it makes the cycle way almost pointless.

Oxford Road, it's better than nothing, but nothing like Amsterdam!

It's better than nothing, but nothing like Amsterdam!

Notice the lack of junction treatment, no protection from vehicles turning left across the cycle route. In Amsterdam cycles get a separate phase at traffic lights.

Meantime the bus stops are over complicated, with pointless solar powered led lights, rumble strips and give way signs that were added later. Money spent on blaming people cycling whilst ignoring the real dangers at the junctions.

But the real problems on this route are the drivers using the cycle route as a parking place, normally it's private hire cars, but this time it was rather different...

Oxford Road going south



Oxford Road going north



When they put in half decent cycle routes in Manchester it's not long before they are closed by building works...

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?

"Cycle Tracks" aka parking spaces for lazy contractors...

I am so sick of obstructions on cycle tracks in Manchester.

This evening's ride home met with this pair of vans.



There was no sign of either driver.



One van is on the legitimate access road, the other idiot drove down the cycle track!



Remember this name...

Keep on Complaining

My cycle route to work has been screwed up for the past year with all sorts of closures and other crap, but last week I saw something that just looked like the local council sticking two fingers up to those of us who cycle. Last Wednesday, on the one short section of segregated cycle track on my route a set of council workmen had ignored the access road to the right of the track and driven their vehicles along the cycle track.



So later that morning I posted the following on twitter

Could you please ask your drivers @ManCityCouncil not to drive & park your vans & lorries on the city's cycle tracks. pic.twitter.com/xZg1UqtwyX
— MadCycleLanes of MCR (@MadCycleLaneMCR) January 7, 2015

and followed up in the evening with a second message that also went to the senior Councillor responsible for highways.





As you can imagine, on Thursday morning the vehicles were still there, this time two lorries on the cycle track and pavement just further along.

So I posted two new photos on twitter

Day two @ManCityCouncil lorries still being driven onto cycle track & pavement - rather than the adjacent access road pic.twitter.com/qzgZ4R5CbO
— MadCycleLanes of MCR (@MadCycleLaneMCR) January 8, 2015

This time, I got a response..

@MadCycleLaneMCR Which Road is this? Thanks.
— ManCityCouncil (@ManCityCouncil) January 8, 2015

So I replied with the location and an extra picture and got an acknowledgement.

@MadCycleLaneMCR Thanks. Will chase it up with Highways.
— ManCityCouncil (@ManCityCouncil) January 9, 2015

Well, by Friday morning the council workman had moved along the cycle track, and were now obstructing the cycle lane beyond.

So another day another tweet...

Day 3, the @ManCityCouncil lorry is now on the pavement and obstructing the cycle lane. pic.twitter.com/VHTQcn5E9s
— MadCycleLanes of MCR (@MadCycleLaneMCR) January 9, 2015

By the afternoon the city council had take some sort of action, and a number of people along the way had seen that driving council vehicles illegally on cycle tracks was a PR problem.

@MadCycleLaneMCR Highways have spoken to the crew involved and told them not to do this in future. Thanks for letting us know!
— ManCityCouncil (@ManCityCouncil) January 9, 2015

This sort of thing doesn't change the world overnight, but keeping up the pressure on our local authorities will get through in the end. After all that is what the petrolheads do all the time...

So keep on complaining!

NCN Route 6 closed for the rest of the year

I discovered today that National Cycle Network Route 6 will be closed on Liverpool Road from 14th October for at least 3 months. It turns out that United Utilities will be closing Liverpool Road and Water Street entirely for around 3 months. Whilst there will still be narrow pedestrian access there will be no provision for cycling whilst the first phase of work is carried out. Anyone cycling along Water Street or along Liverpool Road will have to get off and walk around the junction.



In the new year there may be provision for people cycling to get between Princes Bridge and Liverpool Road along Woollam Place, but don't hold your breath.

So if you regularly use Liverpool Road and Princes Bridge you may find yourself being sent on long unpleasant diversions via Mancunian Way, Chester Road, Bridgewater Viaduct, Deansgate, Quay Street and Water Street and vice versa.

If you are on a bicycle you can get off and push along the pavement, but anyone who uses a trike or trailer may have to go round the long way because the pavements are going to be very narrow at the junction.

UPDATE: this is the diversion which is going to be posted by United Utilities - it's 3/4 mile long and goes up and down a hill.


View Water Street Diversion in a larger map

8 Month Closure of Liverpool Road - NCN6

United Utilities are about to close the junction of Liverpool Road and Water Street from the middle of August 2013 for approximately 8 months.

This is part of National Cycle Network route 6. It is a busy cycle commuter route and links to Princes Bridge.



The reason is a large amount of work to improve the sewers.

"When it pours down in Manchester, the sewer system can quickly fill up with rainwater. Once the sewer pipes are full, this water, containing diluted sewage, has to go somewhere and at the moment spills into the Manchester Ship Canal... We will be installing an underground chamber with filters, to block out items that should not enter the Manchester Ship canal on those rare occasions that the sewers do overflow."

I spoke to the team from United Utilities when they were on site and they are only planning to close the road itself. The pavements will still be open. However, they did not know whether there are any plans to allow people to cycle on the pavement instead.

However, on a positive note, the closure will make Liverpool Road a much nicer cycle route without all those drivers rat-running through the area. That is if United Utilities remember to block the rat run via New Elm Road and along the cobbles on Potato Wharf. If they don't there will be colisions at the junction of Liverpool Road and Potato Wharf and the cobbles will just get ripped up by the heavy traffic.


View Closure of NCN6 in a larger map

Cyclists Dismount - it's the Labour Party Conference

It's that time of year again, where parts of the city are blocked off for a conference, and cycling takes a very low priority. After all, do you see delegates turning up by bike? Of course not, their bikes would be treated as a security risk....

Here in Lower Mosely Street the steel fencing closes the pavement, so the cycle track, designed to give a safer crossing of the tram tracks has been closed.

 

The track on the other side of the road has been turned into a pavement, complete with new tarmac to make a drop kerb!



This is the start of the cycle route down Windmill Street.


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Irwell River Path Gates - locked again

The gates on the Irwell River Path have been locked all day today. Strangely it was only the set under the Trafford Road bridge, as if the gates further down have not been locked overnight.

If this is the case then it is totally pointless locking the gates at all.



Around a quarter to nine this morning...



and six this evening.

I have been informed that Quaywatch manage the gated access along the Ordsall stretch on behalf of Salford City Council. It looks like they are failing to do their job properly.

These gates should be removed, as the cycle path should be available 24 hours a day. This is not the first time this has happened.


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Salford's Bridge Barrier Design

Local councils seem to be free to dream up all kinds of idiotic barrier designs to try and put people off cycling. Salford council seems to have a unique brand of bridge barrier which I came across on Sunday.

These two bridges are both part of National Cycle Network Route 6, but both of them are marked on the Salford Cycling Map as footbridges where you should get off and walk.





You would be hard pressed to get a tandem though this barrier, let alone a handcycle or trike!



The National Cycle Network is a bad joke, particulally for people who cannot ride a conventional bicycle. It's time that this country stopped pissing about with discriminatory token gestures and started taking cycling as transport seriously.


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Victoria Street - now completely blocked...

...this time by gardeners!

Access from the bottom end of the road is now clear,



but you soon hit barriers. Lots of barriers.



The only available route for cycles is now is along the pavement.



And the cause? Apparently the Manchester Cathedral Flower Festival. Part of Dig the City.



This cycle route is likely to be blocked well into August.



As far as I could see, no diversions have been signposted.

and yet more reasons not to put bikes on pavements

This morning's collection of vehicles on the pavement cycle track on Trafford Wharf Road.











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