Digging up Liverpool Road - again...

As if there are not enough potholes in Manchester, somebody is digging new holes in Liverpool Road. The road has only recently been resurfaced, so this is damaging good tarmac.



The holes are rectangular and quite shallow.



Some longer ones have appeared across the minor junctions...



This doesn't look good - it looks like more pathetic tokenism to come...

Manchester's Biggest Bike Route Barrier

There are bike route barriers and bike route barriers....

Here the gates have been left locked along the Irwell.



There are Salford's anti-tandem barriers...



and the path-width ironwork along the Fallowfield Loop.



However they are all tiny compared to the latest cycle route obstruction in Victoria Street. This road was closed to motor vehicles several months ago, but was supposed to remain open for cycles. Since when it has been mostly obstructed by gardens, but this last month Manchester has built what is possibly this country' biggest cycle barrier - a temporary cathedral!



This structure blocks the entire roadway, forcing cycles onto the narrow pavement on either side. There is no provision for bikes at all, so people are simply riding along the pavement.

Manchester City Council have clearly not thought this one through...

And yes it may be April Fools Day, but we get this kind of thing all year round.

Crap Cycle Lanes of Trafford

Trafford Council hate to see people cycling on the road. They ensure that most of their cycle routes are shoved onto the pavement.

However, just to make sure that anyone who dares to cycle in Trafford gets the message loud and clear they put a few obstructions in the middle of the route.



Let's just say that someone in Trafford council is trying to say,



"get the hell out of here..."




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Trafford Centre Cycle Slalom

It seems the Trafford Centre complex contains a hidden sports facility.



Running round the edge of the car parks they have marked out a cycle slalom course.



The tight turns and right angle bends make it a challenge for any cyclist.





Just watch out for the off-road drivers!




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Monsterfiets

From Bakfiets en Meer

Pedal Powered Karaoke!

Piccadilly Gardens 21st August - part of Platform 4.

Looked like a Pow-Wow Pedal Power production...

Bear on a Bike

Tree Hugging in Chorlton

A classic piece of crap cycle "infrastructure" in Chorlton on Manchester Road. Just direct the bicycles onto the rather poor piece of pavement that is narrowed by trees.

Going South...



Going North...!



Notice how northbound you are directed into the tree. One wonders whether that was the intention of the route designer or whether (s)he couldn't care less.

In between the two trees going south is also the start of a cycle lane on the road...

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Update: Sharp Edge Trip wrote this rather more comprehensive report last August about the same spot, with a better photo, and links to this article in the South Manchester Reporter

Residents have hit out after pavements on a busy high street were turned into cycle paths.

Signs appeared indicating that walkways on Manchester Road in Chorlton had to be shared with bike users.

But residents claim the move has made the pavements a hazard, saying there is not enough room for pedestrians and cyclists to share the pavements.

One mystery person has even taken the law into their own hands and sprayed over the markings with black paint, which has since been cleaned off by council staff.

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P.S. On the Manchester Cycling Map this section is marked as "Traffic-free routes with a good surface that can be used in all weathers". A case of lies on the map....

Sackville Street - Fresh Paint...

Back in October I posted this photograph of a bollard in Sackville Street which had been added right in the middle of the pavement cycle sign.



Now, whilst the bollard is still in the middle of the cycle sign, someone has been rearranging the paintwork.



From the opposite direction it used to look like this...



Which makes a bit more sense now.



Notice how the original southbound arrow has been burnt away. However they didn't bother to remove the cycle symbol from around the bollard, so it still looks pretty stupid when approaching from the South.



Which leaves me to wonder whether this work had been scheduled back before October 2010, or whether this paintwork has been amended as a result of some bad publicity...



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Un-ending Lane - Stretford Road

If you cycle east along Stretford Road, the cycle lane announces it is about to end.

Except it doesn't...



This happens right next to the boundary between Trafford and Manchester, demonstrating joined up thinking.....





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